USDA Crop Progress Report

Corn, Soybean Harvest Pulls Ahead of Average Pace, USDA NASS Says in 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 3:07 p.m. CDT on Monday, Sept. 27. It was last updated at 4:09 p.m. CDT on Monday, Sept. 27.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- After a few weeks of moving at a near-average pace, corn and soybean harvest progress pulled ahead of the five-year averages last week as farmers took advantage of mostly favorable conditions across parts of the country last week, USDA NASS said in its weekly national Crop Progress report Monday.

Corn harvest picked up steam last week, moving ahead 8 percentage points to reach 18% complete as of Sunday, Sept. 26. That is 4 percentage points ahead of 14% last year and 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 15%.

"Texas and North Carolina led the pack, at 83% and 77% harvested," said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. "Iowa was 9%, and Illinois was 21% harvested."

Dry and hot conditions forecast for the Midwest for much of this week should continue to promote harvest, said DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick. However, showers later in the week could cause some delays, he said. "Showers will move into Western areas late this week, then through the rest of the region this weekend or early next week. This could hinder harvest progress should this system be able to slip under the ridge in Canada," Baranick said.

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For the rest of corn still in fields, NASS estimated the crop continues to reach maturity ahead of normal, with 97% of corn dented, compared to the average of 94%, and 74% of corn mature, 10 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 64%.

Corn condition was unchanged last week at 59% good to excellent. That was below the crop's good-to-excellent rating of 61% a year ago.

Soybean harvest also accelerated last week, moving ahead 10 percentage points to reach 16% complete as of Sunday. That is 2 percentage points behind last year's 18% but 3 percentage points ahead of the average pace of 13%.

"Louisiana, at 54% harvested, lags the 68% average," Mantini said. "Minnesota's soybean harvest is 30% done versus the average of 15%, Iowa is 18% harvested, while Nebraska is 17% done and Illinois is just 19% harvested."

For the remainder of the crop, NASS estimated that 75% of soybeans were dropping leaves as of Sunday, 9 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 66%.

As with corn, the condition of soybeans remaining in fields was also unchanged last week, holding steady at 58% good to excellent. That was down from 64% a year ago.

Winter wheat planting also continued slightly ahead of normal last week, with NASS estimating 34% of the crop had been planted as of Sunday, 2 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 32%. Winter wheat emerged was pegged at 9%, just 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 8%.

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

Sorghum coloring was pegged at 96%, 2 percentage points ahead of the average. Sorghum mature was 65%, 9 percentage points ahead of average. Sorghum harvested was 31%, 1 percentage point behind average.

Cotton bolls opening was 60%, 4 percentage points behind the average. Cotton harvested was 11%, 3 percentage points behind the average. Cotton condition was rated 65% good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from the previous week.

Rice harvested was 61%, 5 percentage points behind the average pace.

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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 Dented 97 93 98 94
Corn Mature 74 57 73 64
Corn Harvested 18 10 14 15
Soybeans Dropping Leaves 75 58 72 66
Soybeans Harvested 16 6 18 13
Winter Wheat Planted 34 21 33 32
Winter Wheat Emerged 9 3 9 8
Cotton Bolls Opening 60 48 65 64
Cotton Harvested 11 9 13 14
Sorghum Coloring 96 92 95 94
Sorghum Mature 65 51 60 56
Sorghum Harvested 31 25 30 32
Rice Harvested 61 51 56 66

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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 5 10 26 45 14 5 10 26 45 14 5 9 25 47 14
Soybeans 4 10 28 47 11 4 10 28 47 11 3 7 26 51 13
Cotton 1 5 29 55 10 1 7 28 51 13 10 14 33 36 7
Sorghum 5 11 28 45 11 4 11 29 46 10 6 12 31 40 11

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

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Anthony Greder

Anthony Greder
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