USDA: 75% of Corn Rated Good to Excellent, 71% of Soybeans

Jul 11, 2018

The USDA's national good to excellent rating on soybeans held steady last week, while corn declined slightly. Some key U.S. growing areas have recently received too much rainfall, while others are expected to see a hot, dry pattern for most of this week, but for now, corn and beans are both in good shape overall.

As of Sunday, 75% of U.S. corn is rated good to excellent, down 1% on the week, with 37% of the crop silking, compared to 18% both last year and for the five-year average.

71% of U.S. soybeans are in good to excellent shape, unchanged from a week ago, with 47% of the crop blooming, compared to 27% on average, and 11% at the pod setting stage, compared to 4% normally this time of year.

80% of U.S. spring wheat is in good to excellent condition, a week to week improvement of 3%, with 81% of the crop headed, compared to the usual pace of 69%.

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Video: A chain harrow is a game changer

Utilizing a rotational grazing method on our farmstead with our sheep helps to let the pasture/paddocks rest. We also just invested in a chain harrow to allow us to drag the paddocks our sheep just left to break up and spread their manure around, dethatch thicker grass areas, and to rough up bare dirt areas to all for a better seed to soil contact if we overseed that paddock. This was our first time really using the chain harrow besides initially testing it out. We are very impressed with the work it did and how and area that was majority dirt, could be roughed up before reseeding.

Did you know we also operate a small business on the homestead. We make homemade, handcrafted soaps, shampoo bars, hair and beard products in addition to offering our pasture raised pork, lamb, and 100% raw honey. You can find out more about our products and ingredients by visiting our website at www.mimiandpoppysplace.com. There you can shop our products and sign up for our monthly newsletter that highlights a soap or ingredient, gives monthly updates about the homestead, and also lists the markets, festivals, and events we’ll be attending that month.