Corn condition tumbles dramatically in North Carolina

In USDA’s first corn condition ratings released 2 weeks ago, North Carolina ranked in the top 5 for states with the highest percentage of corn in good/excellent condition. According to the Crop Progress report for the week ending June 16 North Carolina’s corn condition saw a sharp decline.

North Carolina corn's dramatic decline

According to USDA’s most recent Crop Progress report, North Carolina had the worst corn in the country as of the week ending June 16. A total of 10% of the state’s corn rated very poor. With 13% corn rated poor, North Carolina is one of only two states with a percentage of corn rated poor in the double digits (13% of Texas’ corn is also in poor shape). Overall, 23% of North Carolina’s corn was in either very poor or poor condition as of the week ending June 16. 

Otherwise, the state’s corn rated 25% fair, 49% good, and 3% excellent. Compared to other top-producing states, that’s the second lowest for corn in good condition and the lowest for corn in excellent condition. These ratings are striking as they come just 2 weeks after USDA ranked North Carolina in the top 5 states for corn in good/excellent condition. 

In the Crop Progress report for the week ending June 2, 81% of the state’s corn rated good/excellent, 16% rated fair, and 3% rated very poor/poor. Then, for the week ending June 9, 73% of the state’s corn rated good/excellent, 20% rated fair, and 7% rated very poor/poor. Considering those numbers, the brunt of the decline occurred over the week ending June 16.

USDA’s NASS North Carolina Field Office reported lower than typical rainfall and above average temperatures in the last couple weeks across the state, which likely contributed to the sharp decline in corn conditions. For the week ending June 9, most locations in the state reported negative departures from normal precipitation and positive departures from normal temperatures. And then for the week ending June 16, all locations reported negative departures from normal precipitation and most saw above average temperatures.