US Crop Progress Report: Crop Rating Lower.

Jul 24, 2017

USDA Reports www.USDA.gov

The USDA released the weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

The report noted the national condition ratings for corn and soybeans declined slightly over the past week and are lower than the previous year's ratings.

Weather last week in key U.S. growing areas varied widely, from continued drought conditions in parts of the Plains to flash floods in portions of the Midwest.

As of Sunday, 64% of U.S. corn is in good to excellent condition, down 1% on the week and 12% below this time last year, while 40% of the crop is silking, compared to the five year average of 47%.

61% of soybeans are rated good to excellent, 1% less than a week ago and 10% lower than a year ago. 52% of the crop is blooming and 16% of beans have reached the pod setting stage, both a little bit faster than normal. 75% of the winter wheat crop is harvested, compared to 73% on average.

35% of spring wheat is in good to excellent shape, down 1%, while 41% is called poor to very poor. 91% of spring wheat has headed, slightly ahead of usual.

52% of U.S. pastures and rangelands are rated good to excellent, a 1% week to week decline.

For the full report and the lists by state visit the following link.

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-07-24-2017.pdf

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.