As rain continues to linger in much of the nation’s breadbasket, crop progress is slowing. Farmland Forecast describes current crop conditions this way: “Rain throughout June has left farmers unable to manage weeds and pests and caused ponding in many areas. Corn, soybean, and wheat conditions have responded to the reports of flooded fields, decreasing over the past two weeks.”

Yesterday, USDA reported that 68% of corn was in “good” (54%) or “excellent” (14%) condition. This is a 3% dropoff from crop conditions last week and 7% behind last year at this time.

USDA also issued the first corn “silking” status report of the year. As of June 28, 4% of corn acres were silking. This is the same level as one year ago but 4% behind the 5-year average.

At 94%, soybean plantings, up 4% from the previous week, but 1% behind the pace set last year and 3% behind the 5-year average of 97%. USDA said that 89% of soybean acres have emerged. This is up from the 84% reported to have emerged a week earlier, but down from 93% on this date last year and down from the 5-year average of 94%. USDA issued its first soybean “blooming” report of the year, and 8% of U.S. acres are blooming. This compares with 9% last year and 9% on average over the past 5-years.

Farmland Forecast also reported that July futures for corn closed the week at $3.83 per bushel, a 6.4% increase from last week. July soybeans ended the week at $10.02, a 1.3% increase from last week, and July wheat ended the week at $5.80, a 15.8% increase from last week. Year-to-year corn prices are down 9.7%, soybeans are down 28.4%, but wheat is up 2.8%.