USDA's crop progress report for the week ended August 8 reported 8% of corn dented, below the 10% reported dented in the same week last year. The 5-year average for corn dented in this week was 11%.
According to the report, 91% of soybeans have emerged, above the 86% reported emerged in the same week last year. The 5-year average for soybean emergence in this week was 85%.
According to the latest Crop Progress report from USDA, some 96% of corn was reported emerged, above both the 94% emerged last year and the 90% emerged in the week prior. The 5-year average emergence rate for this week was 91%.
Perhaps no commodity has felt the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic more than ethanol, and thus corn, as gasoline usage declined dramatically during the stay at home restrictions took effect.
Estimates show overall annual damage of roughly $788 million for corn, $213 million for soybean, over $2.5 billion for ethanol, $658 million for fed cattle, $34 million for calves and feeder cattle, and $2.1 billion for hogs.
This spring has been called the wettest on record in the Corn Belt and other major growing regions of the U.S. and the pace of planting would seem to verify this claim. As of Sunday, May 26, corn planting in the U.S. is 32 days behind the 5 year average and soybeans are 37 days behind the 5 year average.
USDA data indicates that corn planted after the middle of this month (May) tends to produce lower yields than corn crops planted in April or early part of May. This isn’t good news for anyone involved.
China’s need for agricultural imports remains significant since they are faced with providing food for nearly one-third of the world’s population. The past decade has produced a growing middle class in China that has demonstrated an increased demand for not only basic foods, but also for high quality products that are only available from other parts of the world.
It looks like farmers in the Corn Belt are finally able to get into their fields and get some seeds in the ground, but current progress is lagging both last year on this date, as well as the 5 year average. But they’re starting to catch up.
In this episode of On the Record, brought to you by Associated Equipment Distributors, we look at President Trump's tariff reduction on ag equipment, the latest dealer sales forecasts, and how high input costs are keeping farmer sentiment down.
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