The corn and soybean markets showed no reaction whatsoever to the freezing temperatures that were recorded last week, but crop progress and crop condition data this week suggests that indeed that was a significant event.

Soybeans rated at 61 percent good to excellent in Minnesota before last week's cold were rated at just 51 percent good to excellent this week. South Dakota soybeans rated 68 percent good/excellent last week were at 58 percent good to excellent this week. North Dakota soybeans followed suit, going from 69 percent good/excellent last week to 60 percent this week. Wisconsin soybeans dropped four points in the good/excellent category with Iowa down two points.

 All of the above-mentioned states had temperatures below freezing last week with some spots getting to 28 or lower. With more than a third of the soybean crop in South Dakota and more than half of the crop in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota not dropping leaves as of this past Sunday, that was all immature soybean acreage that could have been affected by the cold.

With this type of rating decline in the northwestern Corn Belt, it was easy to see why the national soybean ratings this week were down three percentage points in the good/excellent category, a pretty noteworthy drop for so late in the growing season. It is not impossible that some areas of the northwestern Corn Belt will see some additional frost late this week, but it is not going to be as noteworthy as was seen on September 15.

A closed upper level low pressure that will become "parked" over eastern parts of the Midwest later this week will promote cloudy, cool, and somewhat damp conditions there which will limit crop dry-down and harvesting, but it will be mostly dry west of the Mississippi River so harvesting there will be expanding. All of the Nation's midsection looks dry in the 6-10 day period to promote more widespread harvesting. Some additional rains will fall in the hard-red winter wheat belt tomorrow, but overall still a drier-than-normal weather pattern there which will continue to mean problems for winter wheat planting.