USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report

USDA Crop Progress Report: Corn 61% Harvested, Soybeans 80% Harvested Week Ended Oct. 23

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 3:04 p.m. CDT on Monday, Oct. 24. It was last updated with additional information at 3:48 p.m. CDT on Monday, Oct. 24.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Chilly but mostly dry weather allowed corn and soybean farmers to pull further ahead of the average pace in harvesting their crops last week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. However, widespread precipitation forecast this week could slow some of that progress.

CORN

-- Harvest progress: 61% of corn was harvested as of Sunday, Oct. 23, up 16 percentage points from the previous week. This year's harvest progress is now 3 percentage points behind last year's 64% but 9 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 52%.

-- Crop development: Corn mature was estimated at 97%, even with the five-year average.

SOYBEANS

-- Harvest progress: 80% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, up 17 percentage points from the previous week. That is now 9 percentage points ahead of last year's 71% and 13 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 67%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 79% of winter wheat was planted as of Sunday, even with last year and 1 percentage point ahead of the average pace of 78%.

-- Crop development: 49% of winter wheat was emerged as of Sunday, 7 percentage points behind the five-year average of 56%.

WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

"Last week might have been a good week to get out into the fields if you didn't mind the cold, but this week is going to be much more difficult," said DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick. "An early week system has already brought lots of wind to the Plains and Upper Midwest. Dust storms in Colorado and Kansas along with some wildfires on Sunday likely have led to poorer conditions for emerging wheat. Rain has skipped over a large portion of hard red winter wheat territory as well, leaving it dry.

"However, the storm system is picking up some tropical moisture and has really increased its rainfall coverage and intensity over the southeastern Plains into the southwestern Midwest here on Monday. That system will slowly work east through the country through Wednesday with more bouts of rain from Texas up through the Midwest. The rainfall will hit some winter wheat territory in the Plains and most of it in the Midwest. Another storm will leave the Rockies and get out into the Plains on Thursday. The focus for showers there will be from Kansas and Colorado down to Texas for late this week and points eastward into the Delta and Southeast this weekend.

"A spot that did particularly well was the Pacific Northwest. It may have been a bit chilly, but widespread rains from the system this weekend likely improved conditions for wheat, even if it didn't necessarily show up in the conditions. A few more rounds of showers will move through this week, which will help to ease the dryness and drought ongoing in that region."

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.

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Editor's Note: How is your harvest going so far? Are you behind, further ahead, or right on track with USDA NASS' latest estimates? Send us your comments, and we'll include them in next week's Crop Progress report story. You can email comments to anthony.greder@dtn.com or direct message him on Twitter @AGrederDTN. Please include your first and last name and the location where you farm.

National Crop Progress Summary
This Last Last 5-Year
Week Week Year Avg.
Corn Mature 97 94 100 97
Corn Harvested 61 45 64 52
Soybeans Harvested 80 63 71 67
Winter Wheat Planted 79 69 79 78
Winter Wheat Emerged 49 38 53 56
Cotton Bolls Opening 92 89 90 91
Cotton Harvested 45 37 34 39
Sorghum Mature 95 89 96 93
Sorghum Harvested 67 57 69 59
Rice Harvested 94 89 95 94

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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
Cotton 21 24 25 26 4 17 29 23 26 5 1 5 30 48 16

Anthony Greder

Anthony Greder
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