The corn and soybean crops look as good as they have in the past decade, as the calendar turns to July.
This week’s U.S. Department of Agriculture Crop Progress Report shows 73 percent of the corn across the country is rated good to excellent. That’s the fourth-highest good to excellent rating for corn since 2011. Iowa’s corn looks the best, rated 85 percent good to excellent, with Minnesota close behind at 84 percent good to excellent.
The national soybean crop has a 71 percent good to excellent rating this week and, like corn, the fourth-highest rating for the end of June since 2011. The eastern Corn Bel this week has the biggest improvement in the condition of the soybeans.
The condition of Wisconsin’s corn fell 2 percent from last week, to 78 percent good to excellent. The state corn condition is expected to fall a bit for next week because of heavy rains yesterday in some areas of western Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin soybean crop also lost some ground last week, as it’s rated 79 percent good to excellent — down 3 percent from last week.
This week’s report also rates the state’s oats crop at 79 percent good to excellent, with potatoes at 96 percent good to excellent, and winter wheat at 76 percent good to excellent with 89 percent of the oats headed out.
Wisconsin farmers also have harvested 96 percent of their first hay crop, with 10 percent of the second crop also in storage.
The Wisconsin topsoil moisture this week is rated 92 percent adequate to surplus but that was before yesterday’s deluge in parts of western Wisconsin.
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