(Southeast Farm Press) – The U.S. corn crop made steady progress toward maturity during the last week in August, while remaining in mostly good condition.
The information comes from a U.S. Department of Agriculture report released on Sept. 3.
The percentage of the corn crop denting increased by 19 points last week, while the percentage of corn doughing further narrowed the gap behind the five year-average to only five points.
Reports also indicate the crop’s condition remains almost unchanged from the previous week with 56 percent forecast to be in good-to-excellent condition. Last year at this time, only 22 percent of the crop still fared as well.
“While the crop condition remains strong, farmers understand how weather can play an important role at any point during season,” said National Corn Growers Association Chairman Garry Niemeyer, a grower in Auburn, Ill.
“Planters across the country persevered a late, wet season. Now, some face dry conditions that may also impact corn growth. It is important to remember though that, even facing these obstacles, U.S. farmers planted a record number of acres which could produce a record crop in 2013, beating even 2009 when we grew a little more than 13 billion bushels.”
Currently, 84 percent of all corn acres are forecast to be in fair–to-excellent condition, with only 16 percent rated in poor or very poor condition.
The crop condition forecast remained largely unchanged from a week prior, with only three percentage points falling out of the good and excellent rankings. This stands in stark contrast to condition forecasts at this time in 2012, which fell continuously as high temperatures and dry conditions hit large portions of the Corn Belt.
This week’s corn denting reports indicated that 42 percent of the crop had reached that stage of maturity by Sept. 1, a 19 point increase from the previous week. This trails the five-year average of 61 percent by 19 points, narrowing the lag behind the five year-average by three points over the past week.
This week’s report also included the first indications of the percentage of the crop which has reached full maturity.
While only four percent of the crop has reached maturity, 13 points behind the five year-average, a few states are nearing the five year-average for corn mature at this point in the season. North Carolina actually surpasses the average by five points with 87 percent of the crop mature, and Texas only trails by four points at 62 percent mature.
