Crop ratings for corn and soybeans nationally continue to run well below a year ago at 60-percent good to excellent for both crops. Many major crop production states are following suit, except for Minnesota. USDA crop ratings this week for the state were 80-percent good to excellent for corn, down 1-percent from last week, with soybeans rated at 74-percent, up 1-percent. However, Dick Nicolai, University of Minnesota Extension Educator in Crops, says the state is a tale of two crops.

He says there is a great deal of variability in crop maturity this year and so some of the corn is still pollinating, while the majority pollinated in the heat. Nicolai says that could depress yields.

And while the crop ratings in Minnesota are still high that may not translate into the record yields and crop of a year ago.

There is still time for beans with August rains, but even with timely rains, Nicolai says this crop won’t be a record breaker either due to planting and emergence issues.