The U.S. Grains Council is looking for crop progress photos, videos and stories from farmers to help provide online updates for global users of U.S. corn farm.
Since launching in 2015, the Council's Growing the U.S. Corn Crop Facebook page has cultivated a following of nearly 10,000 U.S. corn buyers, users and members of the interested public around the world.
Through this page, the Council shares weather reports, crop progress updates and notes from corn farmers in different parts of the country, including USGC Chairman Chip Councell in Maryland and USGC Vice Chairman Deb Keller in Iowa.
As of June 18, 98 percent of the U.S. corn crop has emerged, in line with both last year at the same time and the five-year average, according to the most recent progress report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In addition, 67 percent of the U.S. corn crop was rated as good to excellent, behind last year’s 75 percent at this same time. However, USDA did note that U.S. corn crop conditions are improving in states including Illinois and Indiana, thanks to showers and thunderstorms received in the last week. In North Dakota and South Dakota, conditions remain very dry despite variable rainfall with nearly 40 percent and 20 percent of the state, respectively, experiencing severe to exceptional drought as of June 20, 2017.
The straight-from-the-farm updates on the Grow Corn Facebook page help put these numbers in perspective - and provide a farmer face to USDA statistics - for customers overseas following corn crop progress.
This content is a valuable piece of Council reach in many markets, including in Asia and the Middle East, the home countries of many of the page's users.
Growers can submit their own posts, videos or commentary directly on the page or by contacting USGC staff at [email protected].
