The U.S. corn crop remains in good condition despite slow progress toward maturity, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released today. While corn silking reports indicate progress to be 14 percentage points behind the five-year average of 20 percent at this point in the season, crop quality forecasts held strong – with reports indicating 68 percent of the crop to be in good-to-excellent condition. Last year at this time, only 40 percent of the crop still fared as well. “Corn farmers planted a record number of acres this year despite facing difficult weather in many parts of the country,” said National Corn Growers Association President Pam Johnson, a grower in Floyd, Iowa. “While we look forward to seeing more extensive estimates of the crop which will be released later this week, we are encouraged by reports that the crop condition remains solid throughout the country. Should favorable weather continue to fuel growth, U.S. corn farmers could produce a record crop in 2013.”
The report included USDA’s sixth assessment of the corn crop condition for this year. Currently, 92 percent of all corn acres are forecast to be in fair-to-excellent condition, with only eight percent rated in poor or very poor condition. While this overall number held steady from last week, the percentage of the crop forecast to be in excellent condition increased by another point since June 30, to a total 17 percent of the crop. Last year, only six percent of the crop was estimated to be in excellent condition at this point.
The report provided the second assessment of corn silking for the year, indicating that only six percent of the crop reached this stage as of July 7, only a gain of three percentage points from the previous week. This trails the five-year average of 20 percent by 14 points but was to be expected due to late plantings this year.
To view the full report released today, click here.