USDA Crop Progress Report

Corn Condition Down 2 Points, Soy Condition Up 2 Points in Latest USDA Crop Progress Report

Anthony Greder
By  Anthony Greder , DTN/Progressive Farmer Content Manager
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(DTN photo illustration by Nick Scalise)

This article was originally posted at 3:06 p.m. CDT on Monday, Aug. 2. It was last updated at 4:06 p.m. CDT on Monday, Aug. 2.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- The condition of the nation's corn crop fell for the second week in a row, while soybean condition rebounded slightly last week, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report Monday.

U.S. corn condition was rated at 62% good to excellent as of Sunday, Aug. 1, down 2 percentage points from 64% the previous week, and down 10 percentage points from this time last year.

Abysmal conditions in the Northern Plains and parts of the Upper Midwest due to ongoing hot, dry weather continued to drag down the overall rating for the crop.

"Minnesota corn condition was rated at 36% good to excellent, with South Dakota at 32% and North Dakota at just 18% good to excellent," said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. "Meanwhile, Wisconsin corn was rated 75% good to excellent, Nebraska 71%, Illinois 68% and Iowa 62% good to excellent."

Corn development continued to run ahead of the average pace with USDA pegging corn silking at 91% as of Sunday, 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 86%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 38%, also 5 percentage points ahead of the average of 33%.

While corn conditions continued to decline, soybean conditions nationwide rebounded slightly last week after falling the previous week. NASS estimated that 60% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, up 2 percentage points from 58% the previous week. That puts current conditions 1 percentage point below where the 2017 crop was rated at this time.

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"Minnesota soybeans were rated 34% in good-to-excellent condition, South Dakota 30% and Montana at just 17% good to excellent with 45% rated poor to very poor," Mantini said. "Iowa and Illinois are rated 61% and 67%, respectively. Nebraska soybeans were rated at 80% good to excellent."

As with corn, soybean development was running ahead of the average pace last week. NASS estimated that 86% of the crop was blooming as of Sunday, 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods was pegged at 58%, 6 percentage points ahead of the five-year average.

After plummeting for several weeks, the condition of the spring wheat crop managed to gain back 1 percentage point last week to reach 10% good to excellent as of Sunday. That remains the lowest good-to-excellent rating for the crop since 1988.

"The spring wheat good-to-excellent rating in Minnesota was 12%, with 45% poor to very poor, while North Dakota's rating is also 12% with 58% poor to very poor -- 3 points lower," Mantini said. "Montana spring wheat is rated 85% poor to very poor, with Washington state a huge 90% poor to very poor."

Spring wheat harvest picked up speed last week, moving ahead 14 percentage points to reach 17% complete as of Sunday. That is 9 points ahead of the five-year average of 8%.

"South Dakota spring wheat is 53% harvested, while Minnesota is 32% done -- up from just 3% a week ago, and North Dakota is just 6% harvested," Mantini said.

Winter wheat harvest also moved further ahead of the five-year average, reaching 91% complete as of Sunday, 5 percentage points ahead of the average of 86%.

"Montana and Idaho are laggards, at 52% and 47% done, respectively," Mantini said.

The following are some other highlights from this week's Crop Progress report:

Sorghum headed was 57%, 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Sorghum coloring was pegged at 22%, 3 percentage points behind average. Sorghum condition was rated 62% good to excellent, down 4 percentage points.

Cotton squaring was 82%, 8 percentage points behind the average. Cotton setting bolls was 50%, 3 percentage points behind the average pace. Cotton condition was rated 60% good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week.

Rice was 59% headed, 6 percentage points behind the average pace. Rice condition was rated 72% good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week.

Oats were rated 36% in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week. Barley was 13% harvested, 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. Barley condition was rated 21% good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week.

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To view weekly crop progress reports issued by National Ag Statistics Service offices in individual states, visit http://www.nass.usda.gov/…. Look for the U.S. map in the "Find Data and Reports by" section and choose the state you wish to view in the drop-down menu. Then look for that state's "Crop Progress & Condition" report.

National Crop Progress Summary
This Last Last 5-Year
Week Week Year Avg.
Corn Silking 91 79 91 86
Corn Dough 38 18 37 33
Soybeans Blooming 86 76 84 82
Soybeans Setting Pods 58 42 57 52
Cotton Squaring 82 78 90 90
Cotton Setting Bolls 50 37 52 53
Winter Wheat Harvested 91 84 84 86
Spring Wheat Harvested 17 3 4 8
Sorghum Headed 57 42 53 54
Sorghum Coloring 22 20 23 25
Oats Harvested 48 31 47 42
Barley Harvested 13 2 4 8
Rice Headed 59 44 57 65

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National Crop Condition Summary
(VP=Very Poor; P=Poor; F=Fair; G=Good; E=Excellent)
This Week Last Week Last Year
VP P F G E VP P F G E VP P F G E
Corn 3 8 27 47 15 3 7 26 49 15 2 5 21 55 17
Soybeans 3 9 28 48 12 3 9 30 47 11 1 5 21 58 15
Spring Wheat 30 34 26 9 1 32 34 25 8 1 1 4 22 62 11
Cotton 1 7 32 49 11 1 7 31 50 11 3 13 39 36 9
Sorghum 3 7 28 54 8 2 6 26 55 11 2 8 35 42 13
Oats 11 21 32 30 6 19 21 33 30 6 2 8 28 53 9
Barley 22 33 24 17 4 19 32 27 18 4 1 2 16 62 19
Rice 1 3 24 57 15 1 3 23 57 16 - 2 22 57 19

Anthony Greder can be reached at Anthony.greder@dtn.com

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Anthony Greder

Anthony Greder
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