As of July 20, 56% of the US corn crop had reached the silking stage, which is 2% behind the 5-year average. About 14% of the crop was in the dough stage, compared to the 12% average. Crop conditions remained steady, with 74% rated good to excellent and a Brugler500 index score of 385.

According to USDA’s grain inspection report released this morning, 983,625 metric tonnes (MT) of corn were inspected for export during the week ending July 17. This is slightly below the 991,257 MT reported for the same week last year and well below the revised 1.314 million MT from the previous week. Year-to-date inspections for the current marketing year total 58.718 million MT (approximately 2.315 billion bushels), which is 28.9% higher than the same time last year.