One-Fifth Of Missouri’s Corn Is In The Bin

Corn and rice harvest across Missouri continues on a faster than usual pace.  The weekly Crop Progress update from USDA has Missouri’s corn harvest at 19 percent complete, nine points better than last year and five points ahead of the five-year average.  70 percent of the crop has matured and 97 percent of the crop has dented.  A third of the remaining crop is rated good to excellent, two points behind a week ago, while 40 percent of fields are rated poor or very poor.  38 percent of Missouri soybean plants have dropped their leaves, 13 points ahead of a year ago and 20 points better than normal.  Conditions are largely static with 43 percent good to excellent against 23 percent poor or very poor.  Winter wheat planting continues its head-start compared to last year, as two percent of next year’s crop is in the ground.

27 percent of the Bootheel’s rice is out of the ground, over double last year’s progress and seven points ahead of normal pace.  The remaining crop is showing strength, with 83 percent rated good to excellent, up three points.  39 percent of cotton have opened their bolls, 13 points behind last year and 17 points behind the five-year average.  The slowing crop is resulting in sharply lower quality ratings, as 57 percent of cotton is rated good to excellent.  That’s a 10-point drop on the week, with the percentage of fields in poor shape doubling to four percent.

Pasture conditions improved from last week’s tumble, as 17 percent of fields are rated good to excellent.  44 percent of pastures are considered poor or very poor.  93 percent of alfalfa fields have received their third cutting.  Just a quarter of Missouri farmers are believed to have enough hay supply on hand, while 55 percent of farmers are believed to have enough stock water.  38 percent of topsoil and 37 percent of subsoil have adequate moisture.  0.39″ of rain fell last week, 0.69″ below normal.  Temperatures were also below normal to 65.9°F.  6.7 days were suitable for fieldwork.