USDA Crop Progress: Conditions Look Good.

Jun 26, 2017

From USDA News www.USDA.gov

The USDA released the weekly crop progress report and the weather in most of the major crop areas is good.

The USDA says early national corn and soybean development numbers are close to average. Conditions generally look good, but parts of the Midwest and Plains have experienced very dry conditions over the past few weeks.

As of Sunday, 4% of U.S. corn is silking, compared to the five year average of 5%, and 67% of the crop is in good to excellent condition, unchanged on the week.

94% of soybeans have emerged, compared to 91% typically this time of year, and 9% are blooming, compared to 7% on average. 66% of U.S. beans are called good to excellent, down 1% from last week.

41% of winter wheat is harvested, slightly faster than usual, and 49% of the crop is in good to excellent condition, steady with a week ago.

The spring wheat condition rating dropped another 2% to 39% good to excellent following another mostly dry week in the northern Plains.

60% of U.S. pastures and rangelands are in good to excellent shape, 3% less than last week.

For the full report and state by state breakdowns visit

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/CropProg/CropProg-06-26-2017.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.