The condition of the nation’s corn crop improved slightly last week while soybean conditions dropped slightly, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

NASS estimated that 72% of the corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, up 1 percentage point from 71% the previous week and well above 56% at the same time a year ago.

“Iowa and Minnesota, both at 85%, and Wisconsin, at 80%, had the highest good-to-excellent corn ratings,” said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. “Nebraska is at 74% good to excellent, and Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are all rated from 56% to 59% good to excellent.”

NASS estimated that 2% of corn was silking, slightly ahead of 1% last year and equal to the five-year average.

Soybean planting continued to inch toward completion last week, reaching 96% complete as of Sunday. That is 13 percentage points ahead of last year’s pace and 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 93%.

Soybean emergence was estimated at 89% as of Sunday, 23 percentage points ahead of last year’s 66% and 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 85%. Soybeans blooming was estimated at 5%, equal to the five-year average.

NASS estimated national soybean crop condition at 70% good to excellent, down 2 percentage points from 72% the previous week but well above 54% at the same time last year.

“Iowa at 84%, Wisconsin at 82%, Minnesota at 81% and Nebraska at 77% had the highest good-to-excellent soybean ratings, while Ohio and Michigan were both at 57% good to excellent and Illinois was at 60% good to excellent. Soybeans in very-poor-to-poor condition nationwide rose to 5% from 4% a week ago,” Mantini said.

Spring wheat headed was estimated at 12%, 10 percentage points behind the average of 22%. Spring wheat condition was estimated at 75% good to excellent, down 6 percentage points from 81% the previous week. Sixty-nine percent of spring wheat in North Dakota was rated either good or excellent, down from 78% the previous week.

Winter wheat was 96% headed at the end of last week compared to 93% last year at the same time and a five-year average of 97%. Winter wheat harvest continued to pick up speed, moving ahead 14 percentage points last week to reach 29% complete as of Sunday, 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 26%. Kansas winter wheat was 25% harvested as of Sunday, while Nebraska hadn’t started yet, noted DTN Senior Analyst Todd Hultman.

Winter wheat condition was rated 52% good to excellent, up 2 percentage points from 50% the previous week.

“Forty-four percent of the Kansas winter wheat crop was rated good-to-excellent, down from 45% last week,” Hultman said. “Winter wheat crops in Washington and South Dakota are doing especially well, sporting good-to-excellent ratings of 86% and 80%, respectively.”

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 2 NA 1 2
Soybeans Planted 96 93 83 93
Soybeans Emerged 89 81 66 85
Soybeans Blooming 5 NA 1 5
Winter Wheat Headed 96 91 93 97
Winter Wheat Harvested 29 15 13 26
Spring Wheat Headed 12 4 6 22
Cotton Planted 96 89 94 96
Cotton Squaring 27 16 27 26
Cotton Setting Bolls 6 NA 2 4
Sorghum Planted 91 79 80 87
Sorghum Headed 18 16 16 18
Barley Emerged 97 94 96 98
Barley Headed 19 11 7 23
Oats Headed 58 42 40 61
Rice Emerged 96 93 96 99
Rice Headed 9 4 4 6

**

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 1 4 23 57 15 1 4 24 56 15 3 9 32 48 8
Soybean 1 4 25 58 12 1 3 24 60 12 2 8 36 47 7
Winter Wheat 5 12 31 43 9 7 12 31 41 9 3 8 28 46 15
Spring Wheat 1 3 21 68 7 2 17 73 8 3 22 67 8
Cotton 7 18 35 33 7 3 14 40 36 7 4 13 33 45 5
Rice 3 24 57 16 3 26 57 14 1 6 27 52 14
Sorghum 2 11 40 42 5 2 8 42 43 5 3 25 61 11
Oats 2 6 27 55 10 1 7 26 56 10 2 5 29 56 8
Barley 3 22 65 10 2 21 67 10 1 4 23 64 8

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

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN