The amount of United States corn crop rated "good" to "excellent" has dropped to just 55 percent, according to reports, the lowest for this time of the growing season since 1992.
A week prior, that figure was 61 percent, with traders guessing that it would drop to just 58 percent.
"I'm very concerned about the weather," expressed Sherman Newlin, an Illinois farmer who grows corn and soybeans. "Low humidity, 90-degree temperatures, and now the wind is sucking the moisture out of crops really fast."
Some farmers are witnessing what is known as rootless corn syndrome, a "rarely seen, but unfortunately quite common for corn planted in May" phenomenon, to quote one farmer, that exhibits the drought stress being felt by many Midwestern corn crops.
"We need rain," tweeted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Ia.) about similar distress that soybean crops are displaying. The no till bean in last yrs corn stover is beginning to look like a bean field."
"However if u observe a bean plant up close u c colorations that result fr drought. 95 of our 99 counties r in some stage of drought."
Another farmer tweeted a photo of some very sad looking corn stalks in a dry field, stating that he does not believe the dry land will "make it through the week" unless a considerable amount of rain falls.
"Three years in a row in June we have had drought conditions and leaf rolling in corn at our Irvington TD Focus Site," said another farmer.
Illinois is the nation's second-largest producer of corn, but growing conditions so far this year have been horrible. About 36 percent of the state's crop was rated "good" to "excellent" for the week ending on June 18, down 12 percentage points versus the prior week.
"I was shocked at the big drop in Illinois ratings," Newlin added. "I knew we were bad, but: Wow."
According to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor Map, the "Corn Belt" states, which include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin, are all experiencing "moderate drought" to "exceptional drought."
The timing could not be worse, it is important to note, as the plants are all very young still and are much more likely to die from such stress compared to later in the growing season when they would be more mature and thus more resilient.
"There's little sign of relief for crops in the forecast," reported Bloomberg.
As of this writing, wheat futures are up 20 percent on the month, while soy futures are up 14 percent and corn futures are up 13 percent.
"Without substantial rain in the next month or so, the consequences could be dire, with farmers abandoning their fields and the harvest plunging," Bloomberg added about this very bad start to the 2023 summer growing season.
One commenter noted that with the way things are going, there will be "world starvation on board along with higher food prices in the fall."
Another suggested that perhaps farmers should return to the heirloom strains of these crops, which are better able to withstand varied climate conditions "unlike the GMO trash they plant that is designed to fail."
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