Winter wheat was planted in early October and harvested in late June. Other crops arecurrently on the field, with maize and rice planted in early May (harvesting inlate September) and soybean planted in late May (harvesting in middle October).May to July is thus the main harvesting season of winter wheat and the key growingseason of maize, rice, and soybean. For the period under consideration, thecondition of crops is below-average to average compared to the last five-year average(2009-13), but above last year’s conditions. The corn belt shows averageconditions after June, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana,Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky; abundant rainfall in this region provided enoughwater for crop growth, but caused a correlated decrease of RADPAR. Itnegatively interfered with crop growth in Minnesota (RAIN, +33%, RADPAR, -7%),Iowa (RAIN, +58%, RADPAR, -6%), Wisconsin (RAIN, 14%, RADPAR, -6%), Nebraska (RAIN,+44%, RADPAR, -2%) and Illinois (RAIN, 20%, RADPAR, -2%). The decrease in PAR(RADPAR) reduced crop photosynthesis in the corn belt. According to theCropWatch environmental indices (national values), TEMP decreased by -0.1°C andRAIN increased 12%. Extreme drought occurred in the west of the country,especially in California (RAIN, -33%), Oregon (-41%), Washington (-28%), the Midwest(west part of Texas), and Southern Plains (Northern Texas, some regions of Oklahomaand Kansas). National RADPAR decreased 1% compared to the five-year average.CropWatch results also indicate that the accumulation of biomass (BIOMSS) increased5% compared to the five-year average. The next CropWatch monitoring period isthe harvesting season of maize, soybean and rice. Unless weather turns favorable,crop production is expected to be below-average. (See also table B.5 in AnnexB.)

(a)Crop condition development graph based on NDVI                          (b) Maximum VCI

(c) Spatial NDVI patterns compared to 5YA                   (d) NDVI profile