Crop report shows continued struggles

Mid-June rains will help Upper Midwest farmers and ranchers, but it's too soon to tell how many and how much.

Many fields in the region continue to struggle, despite widespread precipitation in the seven-day period ending June 18, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.

The new weekly crop progress report, released Monday, June 19, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service, an arm of USDA, finds many crops remain in poor or very poor condition because of drought.

North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana generally are still worse off than Minnesota.

Some numbers show improvement, however.

In South Dakota, for example, 17 percent of South Dakota corn rated poor or very poor, with 34 percent in fair condition on June 18. That's a small gain from a week earlier, when 18 percent was in poor or very poor shape, with 37 percent in fair condition.

In North Dakota, 10 percent of corn was in poor or very poor shape, with 29 percent rated fair on June 18. That's also a slight improvement from a week earlier, when 10 percent rated poor or very poor and 32 percent was in fair shape.

In Minnesota, 2 percent of corn rated poor or very poor, with 17 percent in fair condition on June 18. A week earlier, 2 percent rated poor or very poor, with 20 percent percent in fair condition.

Drought conditions continue to be reflected in pasture and range, with the June 18 numbers showing very little, if any, improvement from the previous week.

In North Dakota, 54 percent of pasture and range rated poor or very poor, with 28 percent in fair condition on June 18.

In South Dakota, 49 percent of pasture and range was in poor or very poor condition, with 27 percent in fair shape.

In Montana, 26 percent of pasture and range rated poor or very poor, with 25 percent in fair condition.

Here's a look at conditions for soybeans and spring wheat, the region's two other major crops.

Soybeans

South Dakota - Sixteen percent rated poor or very poor, 36 percent fair.

North Dakota - Eleven percent was in poor or very poor condition, 31 percent fair.

Minnesota - Three percent rated poor or very poor, 20 percent fair.

Spring wheat

South Dakota - Sixty-four percent rated poor or very poor, 23 percent fair.

Montana - Thirty-seven percent rated poor or very poor, 44 percent fair.

North Dakota - Twenty-four percent was in poor or very poor condition, 34 percent fair.

MInnesota - Zero percent was in poor or very poor condition, 11 percent fair.