USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report

This article was originally posted at 3:04 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, July 6. It was last updated at 4:12 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, July 6.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- National condition ratings for corn and soybeans held mostly steady last week, but good-to-excellent ratings for both crops remain the third lowest in the past 12 years, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Tuesday. The report is normally released on Mondays but was delayed this week due to the Independence Day holiday.

Nationwide, corn condition was rated 64% good to excellent as of Sunday, July 4, unchanged from the previous week. That is the third-lowest good-to-excellent rating for corn in 12 years, only higher than in 2012 and 2019.

"Nebraska's corn crop continues to be solidly rated at 81% good-to-excellent, while Illinois is 65% and Iowa is 62% good to excellent," said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. "South Dakota corn, at 24% good to excellent, and North Dakota corn, at just 35% good to excellent, are poorly rated."

Corn silking was estimated at 10%, slightly ahead of 9% last year but behind the five-year average of 14%.

Nationwide, soybean conditions also held mostly steady, falling just 1 percentage point last week to reach 59% good to excellent as of Sunday. As with corn, that puts this year's current good-to-excellent rating at the third-lowest in the past 12 years, Mantini said.

NASS estimated that 29% of the crop was blooming as of Sunday, equal to last year's pace but 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 24%. Three percent of soybeans were setting pods, equal to the five-year average.

While corn and soybean conditions have held mostly steady the past couple of weeks, spring wheat conditions continued to slide last week as hot, dry weather continued to roast northern and western parts of the country. As of Sunday, spring wheat was rated just 16% in good-to-excellent condition, down another 4 percentage points from 20% the previous week. That remains the lowest rating for the crop since 1988.

Sixty-nine percent of the spring wheat crop was headed, 7 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 62%.

Winter wheat harvest slowed somewhat last week due to rain in parts of the Southern Plains. Nationwide, harvest progressed 12 percentage points during the week to reach 45% complete as of Sunday. That is 8 percentage points behind the five-year average of 53%.

"Kansas was 62% harvested and Nebraska is at 7%, just getting started," said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman. "Illinois is ahead of its five-year average harvest pace, but Indiana, Ohio and Missouri are behind their usual harvest paces."

Winter wheat condition -- for the portion of the crop still in fields -- was rated 47% good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from 48% the previous week.

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

Sorghum headed was 22%, 3 percentage points behind average. Sorghum coloring was pegged at 14%, equal to the average pace.

Cotton squaring was 42%, 4 percentage points behind average. Cotton setting bolls was 11%, 2 percentage points behind the average pace of 13%. Cotton condition was rated 52% good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week.

Rice was 14% headed, 3 percentage points behind the average pace of 17%. Rice condition was rated 73% good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week.

Oats heading was at 88%. Oats were rated 34% in good-to-excellent condition, down 3 percentage points from 37% the previous week. Barley was 59% headed, equal to the five-year average. Barley condition was rated 22% good to excellent, down 9 percentage points from 31% 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	10	4	9	14
Soybeans Blooming	29	14	29	24
Soybeans Setting Pods	3	NA	2	3
Cotton Squaring	42	32	45	46
Cotton Setting Bolls	11	7	12	13
Winter Wheat Harvested	45	33	54	53
Spring Wheat Headed	69	48	59	62
Sorghum Headed	22	19	24	25
Sorghum Coloring	14	NA	13	14
Oats Headed	88	77	83	83
Barley Headed	59	43	57	59
Rice Headed	14	8	18	17

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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	2	7	27	50	14		2	6	28	51	13		1	5	23	54	17
Soybeans	3	8	30	49	10		2	7	31	50	10		1	4	24	57	14
Winter Wheat	7	16	30	38	9		6	15	31	39	9		6	11	32	41	10
Spring Wheat	18	32	34	14	2		14	25	41	18	2		1	5	24	59	11
Cotton	1	9	38	44	8		1	6	41	43	9		4	19	34	36	7
Sorghum	1	3	24	58	14		1	3	26	57	13		2	10	40	44	4
Oats	9	21	36	29	5		6	20	37	32	5		2	8	28	51	11
Barley	13	26	39	15	7		7	18	44	23	8		1	4	22	49	24
Rice	1	3	23	57	16		1	3	23	59	14		1	3	23	55	18

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

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