The anticipation of an early spring certainly became wishful thinking, as our local planting did not get underway until late May. Farmers somehow compressed this year’s planting season primarily into two weeks, thanks to ideal weather and modern equipment. The picture featured in this story was taken on one of Luckey Farmers’ plots in early June by our drone.
The USDA Crop Progress on June 13, pegged Ohio’s corn condition rating at 65% good/excellent (nationally we are 75% G/E). Ohio’s bean condition rating came in at 75% G/E (74% G/E nationally).
Most of the rainfall we’ve had has been limited to the northern cornbelt, some of which received 1- 3 inches. Locally, it was not the soaking rain that our producers were hoping for. Corn seems to be withstanding the hot and dry stress so far, but soybeans look spotty with some still in very dry dirt. We are extremely short top soil moisture and in need of a drink, especially with extended forecasts continuing to favor above normal temps for US growing regions.
Moving forward, markets will continue to focus on weather and for the next two weeks until the USDA releases the quarterly stocks and acreage report on June 30.
