Successful Farming

On Monday, the USDA published the 16th Crop Progress report of the 2026 growing season. Here’s a look at the latest progress and condition numbers. As of July 19, 59% of this year’s corn crop in the top 18 corn-growing states was silking. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 54%. The USDA reported 13% of the corn crop across 15 states had reached the dough stage as of July 19. The five-year average is 11%.

Shortly after 9 a.m. CT, December corn was up 5½¢ at $4.73 per bushel. November soybeans were up 21¢ at $12.24 per bushel. September CBOT wheat was down 6¢ at $6.76¾ per bushel. September Kansas City wheat was down 4¼¢ at $7.28 per bushel. September Minneapolis wheat was up 2¢ at $6.93¾.

Soybean and corn futures surged in overnight trading as overseas buyers made a fresh round of purchases from U.S. suppliers last week. China purchased 340,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans, Mexico bought 246,634 tons and an unnamed country was in for 110,000 tons, USDA said in a report on Friday. The agency also said early last week that China had made additional purchases of 136,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Sunday that the Taylor Farms lettuce sample that tested positive for the parasite cyclospora was actually a false positive. The announcement comes after the FDA previously reported on Saturday that a sample of iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms in central Mexico had tested positive for the parasite. As of Sunday, the FDA said there are no confirmed samples of Taylor Farms lettuce testing positive for cyclospora.

A new report suggests Iowa’s agricultural industry is in a multi-year downturn that might not let up for a few more years, and experts are advising farmers to look back to the practices that got them through tough financial times a decade ago to weather the current storm.

BEIJING, July 20 (Reuters) - China’s soybean imports from the United States fell 20.6% year-on-year in June, reflecting the lingering impact of trade tensions that had prompted Chinese buyers to delay purchases of last year’s U.S. harvest until after an October leaders’ summit. Following the summit, Beijing bought around 12 million tons of U.S. beans.

Quality Assurance & Food Safety Magazine’s Jacqueline Mitchell reported that, “ten meat and poultry companies have recently adopted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) voluntary Product of USA label, identifying meat, poultry, and egg products from animals that are born, raised, harvested and processed in the United States.

In Nebraska, tar spot has spread rapidly across the state this growing season. The Crop Protection Network has confirmed cases in 34 counties. Here’s a timeline of how the disease has spread in the state this season: Across Nebraska’s 93 counties, 60 have a history of tar spot since the disease was first detected in the state in 2021. Over the last month, in the southern half of the state, the disease has reached the western edge of its historical boundary.

The USDA published the latest Crop Progress report on Monday, July 13. Here’s a closer look at recent weather and the status of Kansas’s most important crops in mid-July. For the week that ended July 12, the USDA said 5.5 days were suitable for fieldwork in Kansas. The previous week, which ended July 5, there were 5.1 suitable days. At this time last year, farmers had 5.8 suitable days.

As of 8:33 a.m. CT, December corn was up 1¾¢ at $4.65¾ per bushel. November soybeans were up 6¼¢ at $12.01¼ per bushel. September CBOT wheat was up 5¾¢ at $6.80½ per bushel. September Kansas City wheat was up 10¾¢ at $7.27¼ per bushel. September Minneapolis wheat was up 5½¢ at $6.90¾. • China is buying 340,000 metric tons of soybeans for the 2026/2027 marketing year. • Mexico is buying 256,634 metric tons of soybeans for the 2026/2027 marketing year.