The Ohio crops, as in North Dakota, were planted into very wet soils and the roots are shallow, and the crops are now more sensitive to dry periods. The dry week in Ohio has also stressed fields there, despite ample rainfall in prior weeks. Pod set on the original plant is behind schedule in the producer’s view, and the North Dakota beans hold the lowest yield rating of any Crop Watch field at 1.5. The North Dakota fields have not received meaningful precipitation in nearly a month, very damaging to the prospects for the late-June replanted portions of the soybeans. Corn condition dropped to 4.07 from 4.11, and soybean condition decreased to 3.84 from 3.89 even with a bump in southeastern Illinois.īoth of those average condition scores are nearly identical to the Crop Watch averages from the same week a year ago. No other corn yield changes were made.Īverage condition scores fell slightly from last week due to dryness stress on the crops, and that was the case in South Dakota, western Iowa and North Dakota. The Indiana producer also bumped his corn yield up a half-point on Monday morning, and both his yield scores now sit at 3. That was caused by small soybean yield bumps in South Dakota and southeastern Illinois, along with the scrapping of the half-point cut in Indiana. The 11-field, unweighted average corn yield rose to 3.98 from 3.93 last week and soybeans jumped to 3.68 from 3.64 last week. Both are scored on a 1-to-5 scale, with 3 representing average conditions and yield expectations, and 5 excellent health or near-record yields expected.īoth yield scores edged up slightly this week, though they were not originally supposed to because of deterioration in Indiana. The 11 Crop Watch producers have been reporting weekly on their yield potential and crop conditions. Weather models over the weekend added some scattered rain chances during the next week for dry Corn Belt locations including Iowa, which encouraged heavy pressure on Chicago futures on Monday morning after last week’s sharp, weather-driven rally. Crop Watch producers remain reasonably anxious about this forecast as corn and particularly soybeans are in their critical yield stages. That is especially the case with the hotter temperatures on tap this week, focused on western areas, which also may face below-average precipitation for the next two weeks. The producers in Indiana and eastern Iowa report that crops may be stressed again by late week if the rain predicted in some forecasts does not materialize. Monday morning rain totals in some Crop Watch locations included 0.75 inch in western Illinois, 0.4 inch each in Indiana and southeastern Illinois, 0.3 inch in Minnesota and a couple tenths in eastern Iowa. Crop Watch producers across the heart of the Corn Belt, including in Iowa, western Illinois and Indiana, reported several mornings of heavy dew last week which along with cooler temperatures helped crops combat the rain-free week.ĭew was also reported on Monday morning in South Dakota, where the same phenomenon cushioned yields last year during the Northwestern Corn Belt drought.