About 3 percent of the national crop has set pods, the USDA says
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Soybean plants across the United States are starting to set pods.
About 3 percent of the national crop has begun to set pods, the USDA said in its July 7 Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin.
This figure is up from 2 percent at this time last year.
The USDA’s June 30 acreage report estimated farmers will plant 87.6 million acres of soybeans.
Using that number for context, it means pods have set on about 2.6 million acres of U.S. soybeans. That number is a little lower than Michigan’s total estimated 2021 soybean acreage of 2.3 million acres.
On a state level, Louisiana soybeans are the furthest along.
About 43 percent of soybeans in the state have set pods, up from 32 percent the week prior.
Approximately 21 percent of soybeans in Arkansas have set pods, as well as 15 percent in Mississippi.
Six out of the 18 documented states report no soybeans setting pods.
The U.S. corn crop continues to silk.
About 10 percent of the crop is in this stage, the USDA reported.
That number is up 6 percent from last year.
The June acreage report estimated farmers planted 92.7 million acres of corn.
Using that figure, it means corn is silking on about 9.27 million acres of corn across the U.S.
Corn in Texas leads the way with 70 percent silked, followed by North Carolina at 69 percent.
Four of the 18 surveyed states are reporting no corn in the silk stage.
And winter wheat farmers continue to harvest their crops.
About 45 percent of U.S. winter wheat acres are harvested, the USDA reported.
That number is up from 33 percent last week.
Farmers in Arkansas and Oklahoma have combined 93 and 90 percent of their winter wheat acres, respectively. These are the highest numbers among the 18 surveyed states.
Farmers in Washington, Montana and Michigan are reporting no winter wheat harvest progress as of the July 7 report.