NAPERVILLE, Illinois, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Crop Watch producers are still in the early stages of their harvests as wet weather across western areas last week kept combines out of the fields, but activity could pick up by the end of this week with warmer and drier conditions.
Only three of the 22 Crop Watch fields have been harvested as of Monday, including the Indiana soybeans this past weekend, which came in as expected. The southeastern Illinois corn was completed on Monday, though yields were lighter than anticipated. Kansas corn was finished on Sept. 7.
This is a slower harvest pace for Crop Watch than in 2021, which had planting progress that was similar to this year. Seven fields had been harvested by this date in 2021, and two more were finished by the end of September.
The Western Corn Belt should be drier this week, and showers moving through eastern and northern areas through midweek should clear by the weekend. Warmer-than-normal temperatures across the Corn Belt should last through at least the first week of October, which is usually a very busy week for harvest and should be for Crop Watch.
Some producers may need to wait for a dry-out after recent rains. Over 5 inches of rain fell on the Crop Watch fields in North Dakota last week, South Dakota received up to 2 inches and 1.7 inches fell in Minnesota. Several fields around the western Iowa location tallied multiple inches last week.
SCORES
Crop Watch producers have been rating yield potential on a 1-to-5 scale with a score of 3 around farm average yield, 4 solidly above average and 5 among the best crops ever.
The Indiana soybeans, harvested on Saturday, ended with a final yield score of 4.25, better than in the last two years but slightly worse than had been expected throughout August. Early August rains made the crop, but dryness for the rest of the month prevented what could have been excellent yields.
No other soybean yield scores were adjusted this week, keeping the 11-field average unchanged at 3.59. The western Iowa soybeans are in progress but on pause for wetness, and the expected 3.5 would be lower than in the prior two years.
Average Crop Watch corn yield slid to 3.61 from 3.66 last week as the final result was disappointing in southeastern Illinois. That field finished with a score of 3.25, lower than the expected 3.75. This area received heavy rains in early July and then turned mostly dry through the rest of the season.
The southeast Illinois corn notched a 3.75 last year and a 5 in 2021. No other Crop Watch corn scores were adjusted this week, but the 4.25 in western Illinois could have downside based on early progress. That would be slightly worse than last year but better than in 2021.
The following are the states and counties of the 2023 Crop Watch corn and soybean fields: Kingsbury, South Dakota; Freeborn, Minnesota; Burt, Nebraska; Rice, Kansas; Audubon, Iowa; Cedar, Iowa; Warren, Illinois; Crawford, Illinois; Tippecanoe, Indiana; Fairfield, Ohio. The North Dakota corn is in Griggs County and the soybeans are in Stutsman County.
Photos of the Crop Watch fields can be tracked on my Twitter feed using handle @kannbwx. Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own.
(Writing by Karen Braun Editing by Matthew Lewis)
