USDA Crop Progress

OMAHA (DTN) -- Corn and soybean development was well ahead of the five-year average pace nationwide at the end of last week, according to the USDA National Ag Statistics Service's weekly Crop Progress report released Monday.

NASS estimated that 37% of corn was silking as of Sunday, July 8, 19 percentage points ahead of 18% for both last year and the five-year average.

Corn's condition rating fell just slightly again from 76% good to excellent the previous week to 75% last week.

"Corn's condition rating is slightly below where the successful 2016 corn crop was at this time," said DTN Analyst Todd Hultman. "The highest poor-to-very-poor ratings for corn were found in the drier areas of Texas, Missouri and Kansas."

Soybean development was also running well ahead of normal, with NASS estimating 47% of the crop blooming as of Sunday, 20 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 27%. Eleven percent of soybeans were estimated to be setting pods, 7 percentage points ahead of the average pace of 4%.

Soybean condition held steady from the previous week with a rating of 71% good to excellent.

"The soybean crop's current condition rating is the same as soybeans showed at this same time in 2016," Hultman said. "Missouri has the worst soybean conditions with 16% rated poor or very poor."

Meanwhile, NASS estimated that 63% of winter wheat was harvested as of Sunday, slightly behind last year's pace of 65%, but slightly ahead of the five-year average of 61%. Ninety-two percent of winter wheat had been harvested in Kansas as of Sunday.

Spring wheat was 81% headed as of Sunday, ahead of last year's 76% and also ahead of the five-year average of 69%. The condition of the crop jumped 3 percentage points from 77% good to excellent the previous week to 80% good to excellent as of Sunday.

"That's the highest good-to-excellent rating for spring wheat this time of year since 2010," Hultman said. "South Dakota is not seeing the same success with 14% of its spring wheat crop rated either poor or very poor."

Sorghum was 25% headed, behind 28% last year and behind the five-year average of 27%. Sorghum coloring was 17%, even with both last year and the five-year average. Sorghum condition slipped again from 53% good to excellent the previous week to 51% last week.

Barley was 78% headed as of Sunday, ahead of 69% last year and also ahead of the average pace of 73%. Oats were 91% headed, slightly behind 92% last year but slightly ahead of the average of 89%. Ten percent of oats were harvested as of Sunday, near 9% for both last year and the five-year average.

Rice was 21% headed as of Sunday, equal to last year and slightly ahead of the average of 20%. Cotton was 59% squaring, ahead of the average of 55%. Twenty-one percent of cotton was setting bolls, also ahead of the average pace of 15%. The good-to-excellent category was also up 1 percentage point for both crops last week. Rice's good-to-excellent condition rating rose by 1 percentage point last week, while cotton's good-to-excellent rating dropped by 2 percentage points.

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	37	17	18	18
Soybeans Blooming	47	27	32	27
Soybeans Setting Pods	11	NA	6	4
Cotton Squaring	59	42	59	55
Cotton Setting Bolls	21	12	18	15
Sorghum Headed	25	22	28	27
Sorghum Coloring	17	NA	17	17
Spring Wheat Headed	81	58	76	69
Winter Wheat Harvested	63	51	65	61
Rice Headed	21	15	21	20
Barley Headed	78	50	69	73
Oats Headed	91	82	92	89
Oats Harvested	10	NA	9	9

**

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	2	5	18	54	21		2	4	18	55	21		3	7	25	52	13
Soybeans	2	5	22	55	16		1	5	23	55	16		3	8	27	52	10
Spring Wheat	1	3	16	66	14		1	4	18	64	13		19	20	26	29	6
Sorghum	4	11	34	46	5		3	12	32	49	4		1	5	31	56	7
Cotton	8	19	32	34	7		6	18	33	36	7		4	8	27	47	14
Rice	1	5	22	59	13		-	5	24	56	15		-	4	24	48	24
Oats	3	3	21	60	13		3	3	21	60	13		8	12	27	45	8
Barley	1	2	12	68	17		1	2	13	66	18		7	12	30	41	10

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