During the current monitoring period from April to July 2020, winter wheat reached maturity. Maize planting started in April, followed by soybean in May. Maize reached the silking period in late July and in soybean, seed filling started at around that time, whereas spring wheat was in its late grain filling phase. In general, the crop conditions in North America are favorable.

Compared with the 15YA, the weather conditions in the North American production area during the monitoring period were slightly wetter and cooler. Rainfall was 8% higher, temperature was 0.7°C lower and photosynthetically active radiation was 2% lower than the 15YA. As a result, estimated potential biomass was 3% lower than the 5YA. All parts of North America experienced a cooler than normal period in mid-April, but the temperatures subsequently rose quickly to 1.5-3.5°C above average by the end of April. Starting in May, the temperatures closely followed the 15-year trajectory, exceeding it in July. The pattern for precipitation was different: During the period from May to June, the precipitation in the Prairies and the Northern Plains was significantly higher than average, while the precipitation in other regions was close to average.

The potential biomass in the north and west of the Corn Belt and the north and south of the Great Plains is estimated to be above average, which may be attributed to slightly above-average precipitation and close-to-average temperature and RADPAR. On the contrary, the potential biomass in the Prairies was significantly lower than average, which may have been caused by cooler temperatures and lower RADPAR.

The maximum VCI index as high as 0.9 indicates favorable crop conditions in the monitoring area. During the period from May to June, thanks to abundant rainfall, crop conditions in most parts of the Prairies and in the west of the Corn Belt were excellent. Areas with poor crop conditions were mainly distributed in the western part of the southern plain, which may be related to the relatively dry conditions. On the contrary, very wet conditions may have prevented some planting in North and South Dakota. During the monitoring period, the proportion of cultivated land reached 95%, which was the same as the 5YA.

In short, the crop conditions in this MPZ area are favorable. In the next monitoring period, all spring and summer crops will reach maturity and harvest of soybean and maize will start in September.

Figure 2.2 North America MPZ: Agroclimatic and agronomic indicators, April to July 2020