Despite a late, wet and chilly planting season, the U.S. corn crop is in prime condition. “U.S. crop conditions in the most recent Crop Progress report are the best in four years for the aggregated 18 reported states and better than any time since 2007 for the Corn Belt,” said USDA in its WASDE report. USDA projects a record crop of 13.935 billion bushels, a hair larger than the mark set last year. As of Monday, 75 percent of the crop rated good or excellent. A year earlier, 63 percent was good or excellent.
The weekly Drought Monitor said rainfall in the Midwest and central Plains eased dry conditions in the region. Overall, 36.15 percent of the country was in drought, down from 37.32 a week earlier.