Farmers' woes seen from SPACE as the US Corn Belt appears brown due to extreme weather

Unprecedented flooding in the US Midwest at the start of this year’s planting season has left huge swathes of farmland brown, waterlogged, and in some cases unplanted altogether.

It doesn’t bode well for farmers who are now already far behind on this year’s corn and soybean crops; according to the Agriculture Department, corn and soybean are currently at their lowest points ever for this time of year.

Farmers are feeling the effects of extreme weather that’s hit the region over the past few months, including heavy rainfall that can drown out the fields.

While the area from Ohio to North Dakota known as the Corn Belt is typically a rich green when viewed from satellite images, this year it appears a lifeless brown, the Washington Post reports.

Slide the bar to see how 2019 (right) compares to last year (left) 

Unprecedented flooding in the US Midwest at the start of this year’s planting season has left huge swathes of farmland brown, waterlogged, and in some cases unplanted altogether

Planting season is now essentially over for corn, and the window for soy is closing as well, with the unofficial date set for July 4.

Both corn and soybean fields are now like a ‘war zone’ compared to what they should be, University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin told WaPo.

‘Everything that could go right went perfect for growing corn and soybeans last year,’ Irwin said.

‘This year has been pretty much the opposite. So far, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong.’

Some economists estimate there may be as much as a 10 percent drop in production per acre, according to the Washington Post.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday pegged the condition of the corn crop at 56% good-to-excellent, unchanged from the previous week. 

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a slight improvement.

A year ago, 76% of the corn crop was rated good-to-excellent.

On Friday, the USDA surprised traders by estimating U.S. 2019 corn plantings at 91.7 million acres, prompting prices to post their steepest loss in three years.

Above, a field is flooded by waters from the Missouri River, in Bellevue, Neb. Thousands of Midwest farmers are trying to make decisions as they endure a spring like no other. It started with a continuation of poor prices for corn and soybeans that fell even further

‘This (worse that expected ratings) allowed the uncertainty surrounding last week’s report of a higher than expected acreage to take something of a back seat,’ Commerzbank said in a note.

‘Given the problems caused to planting by excessive rainfall, the way the weather now develops is particularly important if high yield shortfalls are to be avoided.’

Wheat prices were also higher with the CBOT’s most active contract up 0.9 percent at $5.08 a bushel and December wheat on Paris-based Euronext up 0.3 percent at 182.25 euros a tonne.

Dealers said prices had recovered some ground after falling sharply during the last few days but the mood remained bearish with harvests in the U.S. and Russia making good progress.

Corn and soybean fields are now like a ‘war zone’ compared to what they should be, University of Illinois economist Scott Irwin said. ‘Everything that could go right went perfect for growing corn and soybeans last year,’ Irwin said. ‘This year has been pretty much the opposite.

Water pools in rain-soaked farm fields on May 29, 2019 near Gardner, Illinois. Near-record rainfall in Illinois caused farmers to delay their Spring corn planting

There remained, however, some crop concerns.

‘This is the uncertainty about the yield of late European cereals exposed to the recent heatwave and doubts about the Russian winter wheat yields in the central and Volga regions,’ French analysts Agritel said in a market note.

Dealers noted Egypt was able to buy 60,000 tonnes of Romanian wheat at a low price earlier this week and the market’s focus had now shifted to an Algerian tender which is due to close on Thursday.

Soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 0.5 percent to $9.03-1/4 a bushel, regaining some ground after falling by 1.1 percent on Tuesday.