Winter Wheat Planting Continues at Normal Pace in Southern Plains as Crop Conditions Hold Steady

The latest USDA Crop Progress report, released Monday, September 17, 2018 showed only marginal adjustments in the condition of the soybean crop this week, with corn conditions holding steady while harvest continues to advance.

 

Corn crop ratings were unchanged from the previous week, remaining at 68% good-to-excellent while another 20% of the crop is still rated fair, with the remaining 12% rated poor or very poor.

 

From a state-by-state perspective, Nebraska continues to lead the charge on crop ratings in the traditional corn belt, climbing up one point to 82% good-to-excellent. Other key production states such as Illinois and Iowa also continue to see a better crop rating than the national average, while Missouri and Texas again represent the lower end of the quality spectrum, both at only 30% good-to-excellent or below.

 

The 2018 corn crop has essentially advanced on past the dough stage and has nearly completed the dent stage as well at 93% complete this week, compared to 84% this time last year and 86% for the five-year average. Over half the crop has reached full maturity at 54%, versus 32% a year ago and a five-year average of 36%.

 

Soybean crop condition for the week ending Sept. 16 held mostly steady, with 49% of the crop in good condition (down 1 point from the week prior) and 18% of the crop in excellent condition (unchanged from last week). With several states trending above the nationwide average, only Missouri (46%) has less than half of its crop in good-to-excellent condition.

 

USDA reports that 53% of the soybean crop is now dropping leaves, versus 31% a week ago, 38% last year and a five-year average of 36%- so the crop remains well ahead of normal crop development. 

 

The U.S. cotton crop is also tracking ahead of normal again this week, with 49% of the crop at open-boll stage. That’s up from 2017’s pace of 43% and just barely above the five-year average of 46%. Cotton quality actually improved some this week, though- moving from 38% in good-to-excellent condition the prior week up to 9%. Last year, 61% of the crop was in similar condition.

 

Nationally, the Pasture and Range ratings improved by one percentage point from a week ago- now standing at 44% in good to excellent condition- but one point under the ratings of 2017. In our region-Oklahoma Pasture and Range ratings dropped another point this week to 44% good to excellent, Texas jumps up 11 points to 31% good-to-excellent, Missouri improves by 6 percentage points to 25% good-to-excellent while Kansas climbed up one point to 47% good-to-excellent. The most awful ratings for this week can be seen in Arizona with 65% poor to very poor.

Video: Why Invest in Canada’s Seed Future? | On The Brink: Episode 3

Darcy Unger just invested millions to build a brand-new seed plant on his farm in Stonewall, Manitoba so when it’s time for his sons to take over, they have the tools they need to succeed.

Right now, 95% of the genetics they’ll be growing come from Canadian plant breeders.

That number matters.

When fusarium hit Western Canada in the late 90s, it was Canadian breeders who responded, because they understood Canadian conditions. That ability to react quickly to what’s happening on Canadian farms is exactly what’s at risk when breeding programs lose funding.

For farmers like Darcy, who have made generational investments based on the assumption that better genetics will keep coming, the stakes are direct and personal.

We’re on the brink of decisions that will shape our agricultural future for not only our generation, but also the ones to come.

What direction will we choose?

On The Brink is a year-long video series traveling across Canada to meet the researchers, breeders, farmers, seed companies, and policymakers shaping the future of Canadian plant breeding. Each week, a new story. Each story, a piece of the bigger picture.

Episode 3 is above. Follow Seed World Canada to catch every episode, and tell us: Do you think the next generation will have the tools they need to success when they takeover? How is the future going to look?