This week, the US crop update shares insights into the current drought status, the impact of historical and forecasted weather, and last but not least, the latest crop conditions updates with a comparison to the past years.
The drought situation has improved slightly compared to one week and one month ago. Although the number of states experiencing drought decreased over last month, the number of acres experiencing drought have decreased by almost 6%. Droughtmonitor.com data shows the statistics below.
Many of the drought areas in the lower 48 states are experiencing short and long term effect from the drought (SL rating in the map the below).
While the areas in light green in the map below have shown an improvement in drought class since last week, most of the USA, has seen no change (grey color). Several areas in the Northwest have seen their drought situation worsen (yellow color) in the past week.
The widespread precipitation events in Montana, Washington, and Oregon from a couple of weeks ago did not have a lasting impact. The image below shows the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) over the last 30 days. It shows that many areas in the Northern USA experience a lower than normal SPI, which is correlated to a lower than normal soil moisture.
The precipitation has been far from normal in most of the USA in the last 90 days. It either did not rain enough or it poured.
The map below highlights the variation in rain over the central USA, emphasizing the wetter South, Southeast.
The map below shows the amount of precipitation over the last 60 days for the central USA.
The map below shows the percentage of normal precipitation for the last 60 days over the central USA.
Hot weather continued in the Northwest, West, and Northeast leading to expanded drought conditions. 100-Degree temperatures in the Dakotas caused a good deal of crop damage that subsequent rains will not be able to fix. The data from the last months shows that the North/ Western part of the USA is significantly warmer than average, while the South/Southeastern part is cooler than normal.
The near-term forecast for the Midwest is for a cooler and wetter week. This will help reduce crop stress as corn starts to head into pollination. The longer-term forecast predicts continued higher temperatures for the North and West and lower temperatures for parts of the South.
Both the forecast for the next 10 days and until the middle of August, show warmer than normal temperatures in large areas of the USA. The Pacific Northwest is forecasted to have much higher temperatures. The temperatures in the middle and south of the USA are predicted to be below normal.
The near-term weather forecast shows good rainfall across a large area of the corn-belt, especially for Iowa and Minnesota. Also, cooler conditions are expected with the rain.
Northern Illinois corn and soybeans are progressing into reproductive crop growth stages. Most herbicide and fertilizer applications are made for this year. Crop disease pressure looks to have more potential from Missouri and Illinois into the eastern corn-belt, with dry weather elevating insect pressure in the northern and western areas of the corn-belt.
The chart below shows the percentage of corn in Good to Excellent condition over the years in the same week. The corn quality is below most years in the last decade, but it is in better shape compared to 2019 and 2012.
The chart below shows the percentage of soybeans in Good to Excellent condition over the years in the same week. The soybean quality is below most years in the last decade, but it is in better shape compared to 2019 and 2012.
Early order programs offer many benefits that mitigate the risk of unforeseen situations that can severely impact the pricing and availability of products in season.
With the outlook looking good for timely harvest, the option of applying fall herbicides looks to be more available than in years with delayed crop maturity and a later harvest window.
The latest crop update for the USA shows corn and soybean affected by the drought conditions in North Dakota, including the weather forecast, and current crop conditions.
Soil water repellency, or hydrophobicity, creates tremendous challenges for irrigation in turf and can be prevented by wetting agents.
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