Eastern Cornbelt: Ammonia pricing remained at $770/st FOB in the Illinois market. Parts of Indiana collected more than two inches of rain in early August, but the effects of that moisture were not yet evident in the weekly drought map. Drought conditions in Indiana ranged from severe to exceptional, according to the Aug. 7 U.S. Drought Monitor, with the worst conditions reported in southwestern areas of the state. Most of Illinois fell in the extreme drought category last week, with exceptional drought darkening the southern counties. Ohio remained the most verdant in the region, with most of the state experiencing moderate drought last week.
USDA said just 4-7 percent of the corn crop in Illinois and Indiana was good last week, with 73-74 percent of the acreage rated as poor or very poor. Ohio’s corn was 14 percent good or excellent and 52 percent poor or very poor. Some 53-57 percent of the soybeans in Illinois and Indiana fell in the poor/very poor categories last week, along with 42 percent of Ohio’s soybean crop. Good or excellent ratings were assigned to 19 percent of Ohio’s soybeans last week, compared with 15 percent in Indiana and 10 percent in Illinois.
Nationally, USDA placed 23 percent of the corn and 29 percent of the soybeans in the good or excellent categories last week, with poor or very poor ratings assigned to 50 percent of the corn crop and 28 percent of the soybeans.
Western Cornbelt: Anhydrous ammonia remained at $700-$750/st FOB in the region, with the low in Nebraska.
Midweek rains were reported in eastern Nebraska and western and central Iowa, but exceptional drought conditions expanded in the region last week to include most of southern Missouri and western Kansas. Most of Nebraska was in an extreme drought, although a patch of exceptional drought was present in the center of the state. Most of Iowa was also labeled as an extreme drought area last week, with lesser but still severe drought conditions reported on the northern and south-central edges of the state.
As of Aug. 5, 84 percent of Missouri’s corn was rated as poor or very poor, along with 74 percent of the state’s soybeans. In Iowa, 49 percent of the corn and 37 percent of the soybeans fell in the poor or very poor categories last week, while Nebraska’s corn and soybean crops were rated at 37 percent poor or very poor.
Southern Plains: Anhydrous ammonia pricing was up from last report. Sources pegged the market at $680-$710/st FOB in the region, with the low reported out of regional production points and the upper end out of pipeline terminals in Kansas.
Drought continued to impact crop conditions and fertilizer movement in the Southern Plains. Drought conditions ranging from extreme to exceptional were reported in eastern Colorado, western Kansas, and western Oklahoma. Patches of extreme drought were also reported in eastern New Mexico and northern Texas, but Kansas farms were suffering the most, with most of the state classified as an extreme drought area in early August.
A Kansas source said growers in his location would begin fertilizing winter wheat ground “if we ever catch a rain,” but movement in early August was at a standstill. One contact said wheat growers will start applying preplant fertilizers by Labor Day regardless of rainfall, unless field conditions are simply too hard. “If we get any rain, we will have a huge fall,” said another source.
South Central: No current pricing was reported for anhydrous ammonia in the South Central region. Sources said the Memphis market was out of tons in early August because of low river levels that were preventing barge unloading at the port. “We’re just lucky it’s not March,” said one contact.
Louisiana and Mi