DJ US Crop Progress Wrap: Corn, Soybean Ratings Stay Steady
07/26/10
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Condition ratings for U.S. corn and soybeans held steady in a weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture crop progress report issued Monday.
Development of the crops remained ahead of normal.
The condition of spring wheat, meanwhile, improved from an already outstanding level as development lagged slightly behind average for this time of year.
Corn
The USDA rated 72% of corn good to excellent as of Sunday, unchanged from a week earlier and up from 70% a year ago. Traders had expected the rating to be stable or rise slightly.
In the key state of Iowa, the good-to-excellent rating increased to 70% good to excellent from 69% last week. The rating was unchanged at 62% in Indiana and slipped two percentage points to 65% in Illinois.
Rainfall was excessive in parts of the Midwest last week but brought relief to dry areas, including fields in Ohio. Rain during the second half of the week caused minor flooding throughout Iowa but no major crop damage, according to the USDA.
"Coming in at 72%, it's still a very positive crop," Paul Georgy, president of Allendale, said about the overall rating.
Eighty-four percent of the crop was silking as of Sunday, up from 65% a week earlier and the average of 70%, according to the USDA. Seventeen percent of the crop was in the dough stage, up from 8% a week earlier and from the average of 13%. The crop has developed faster than normal thanks to early planting and favorable weather.
"I think the earliness of the maturity, that's certainly understood," Georgy said. "The big question is how many bushels an acre are we going to have as a national average."
Soybeans
The USDA rated 67% of soybeans as good to excellent, unchanged from last week and from a year ago. As with corn, traders had expected the rating to stay steady or improve slightly from last week.
The good-to-excellent rating improved two percentage points to 71% good to excellent in Iowa and two percentage points to 64% in Indiana. The rating slipped one percentage point to 63% in Illinois.
The stable rating does not mean much to the futures trade because weather in August is the most important factor for the crop's development, Georgy said. The rating "still tells us the crop is in good condition," he said.
Three-fourths of the crop was blooming as of Sunday, up from 60% a week ago and above the average of 72% for that time of year, according to the USDA. Thirty-five percent of the crop was setting pods, up from 18% last week and the average of 31%.
"We've been warmer on a daily basis without extreme heat, so I think that helps mature this crop along," Georgy said.
Wheat
The USDA increased its good-to-excellent rating for spring wheat to 83% from 82% a week ago. That is up sharply from a rating of 74% at the same time last year.
In North Dakota, the top spring wheat-growing state, the good-to-excellent rating stayed unchanged at 84%. Spring wheat, grown in the northern Plains, is prized for its high protein content and often blended with lower quality varieties.
The total crop was 94% headed, up from 87% last week and down from the average of 97%, according to USDA. North Dakota's crop was 97% headed, up from 91% last week and on target with the average for that time of year.
"The crop up there looks very good," Georgy said. "I don't think it's a surprise at all."
The winter wheat harvest was 79% complete, up from 71% a week ago and below the average of 82%, according to USDA. Cutting is complete in states like Kansas and Oklahoma but continuing in South Dakota and Nebraska.
U.S. wheat markets probably won't pay much attention to the crop progress report because traders are concerned about a drought in the Black Sea region. Weather overseas impacts U.S. markets because the U.S. completes with countries like Russia for export business.
All known news has already been factored into the market