The condition of the U.S. corn and soybean crops rose slightly last week, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. Development of both crops are ahead of the five-year average.

NASS estimated that 72% of the corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, July 26, up 3 percentage points from the previous week and the third highest rating in 10 years.

“Big gains in ratings were seen in Illinois, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas and Indiana. The good-to-excellent rating in Iowa was down 3 percentage points to 77%,” said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

Corn silking jumped 23 percentage points to reach 82% as of Sunday. That was well ahead of the 51% seen at this time last year and moved this year’s silking progress 7 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 75%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 22%, also ahead of the five-year average of 17%.

Soybean development also continued to run ahead of normal last week. Soybeans blooming was estimated at 76%, 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. The portion of the crop setting pods was estimated at 43%, 7 percentage points ahead of the five-year average.

Soybean conditions improved slightly last week. NASS estimated that 72% of the soybean crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of July 26, up 3 percentage points from 69% the previous week and the second highest rating in 10 years.

“Big increases in ratings were seen in Kansas, Michigan, Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio. The good-to-excellent rating dropped 3 percentage points in Iowa to 76%,” Hultman said.

Winter wheat harvest trails the five-year average by 1 percentage point with an estimated 81% of the crop harvested as of Sunday. That’s up 7 percentage points from last week.

“Nebraska is 93% harvested and South Dakota is at 68%,” Hultman added.

The percentage of spring wheat headed reached 97% as of Sunday, almost caught up with the five-year average of the five-year average of 98%.

Spring wheat condition increased 2 percentage points to 70% good to excellent.

“The biggest gain the past week was in Idaho where the crop is now 88% good to excellent. Sixty-four percent of the North Dakota crop is rated good to excellent, up from 62% last week,” Hultman said.

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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 82 59 51 75
Corn Dough 22 9 11 17
Soybeans Blooming 76 64 52 72
Soybeans Setting Pods 43 25 17 36
Winter Wheat Harvested 81 74 73 82
Spring Wheat Headed 97 91 96 98
Cotton Squaring 84 73 84 84
Cotton Setting Bolls 42 27 42 44
Sorghum Headed 44 34 31 44
Sorghum Coloring 20 19 20 23
Barley Headed 96 88 94 97
Oats Harvested 32 20 18 30
Rice Headed 43 32 39 53

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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 5 21 55 17 2 6 23 52 17 3 9 30 47 11
Soybean 1 5 22 57 15 2 5 24 54 15 3 10 33 45 9
Spring Wheat 2 4 24 60 10 2 5 25 55 13 1 5 21 62 11
Cotton 3 13 35 40 9 5 17 31 39 8 1 10 28 46 15
Rice – 3 21 57 19 – 3 24 57 16 1 6 25 48 20
Sorghum 2 9 36 42 11 3 9 37 43 8 1 3 25 59 12
Oats 3 9 27 52 9 2 8 29 52 9 2 6 26 53 13
Barley 1 3 16 56 24 – 4 21 48 27 – 5 18 62 15

Brian Ethridge can be reached at Brian.Ethridge@dtn.com

Source: Brian Ethridge, DTN