Crop Progress and Condition for the Week Ending August 16, 2015.
Sunny and dry weather continued to pull moisture from crop fields, yet corn and soybean conditions have improved slightly, according to the USDA, NASS, Great Lakes Region. Concerns of impaired crops from drought stress have pushed farmers to run irrigation systems frequently during the dry spell. Farmers had 6.1 days available for fieldwork, 0.7 days above last week.
Three weeks of warm temperatures and lighter precipitation has allowed much of the yellowing corn to green up and soybean crop to fill in pods. Adequate amounts of rainfall along with moderate temperatures are critical at this stage for soybean pods to fill in properly for harvest. Some corn stands continue to suffer from leaf and stalk diseases, and remain deficient in both nitrogen and potassium.
Farmers made progress on herbicide and fungicide application, although weed pressures remain high. Harvest for second and third cuttings of hay continued while the conditions remained favorable. Much of the cut hay fields have begun to look brown and dry in some areas.
Pastured livestock was reported to be in good condition with minor stress from high temperatures towards the end of the week. Other activities for the week included cleaning bins, preparing harvest equipment, spraying weed escapes in bean fields, and mowing roadsides.
Regionally, soybeans setting pods was 87% complete in the North, 78% in Central, and 87% in the South. Soybeans rated in good to excellent condition was 45% in the North, 47% in Central, and 45% in the South. By region, corn doughing was 64% complete in the North, 58% in Central, and 70% in the South. Corn rated in good to excellent condition was 43% in the North, 49% in Central, and 57% in the South.
