Wet weather slowed fieldwork in some parts of the country last week, but corn and soybean planting progress nationwide remained ahead of the five-year average, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report. The report, which is normally released on Mondays, was delayed until Tuesday due to the Memorial Day holiday.

NASS estimated that 88% of the nation’s intended corn crop was planted as of Sunday, May 24, a gain of 8 percentage points last week. That was slower progress than the 13-percentage-point gain seen the week before. Nevertheless, corn planting remains 33 percentage points ahead of last year at the same time and 6 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 82%.

“Illinois corn is 89% planted, Iowa is 97% done, Minnesota corn is 98% planted and Nebraska is 97% done,” said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. “The laggards are again Pennsylvania at 47% compared to 65% average, and North Dakota at 54% planted versus 79% average.”

Sixty-four percent of corn was emerged, 36 percentage points ahead of last year and 6 percentage points ahead of the average pace of 58%.

“North Dakota corn is just 12% emerged, and Pennsylvania corn is just 10% emerged — both well behind average,” Mantini noted.

In its first corn condition report of the season, NASS estimated that 70% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, and just 5% was rated as very poor to poor.

Soybean planting moved ahead 12 percentage points last week to reach 65% complete as of Sunday. That was also slower than the previous week’s 15-percentage-point gain but was enough to keep soybean planting progress 39 percentage points ahead of last year’s pace and 10 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 55%. Notable states included Illinois with 65% of soybeans planted, Iowa with 92% planted, Minnesota with 88% planted and Nebraska with 89% of soybeans planted.

Soybean emergence was estimated at 35% as of Sunday, ahead of both last year’s 9% and the five-year average of 27%. North Dakota was the biggest laggard with just 4% of soybeans emerged versus the state’s normal 16%, Mantini noted.

In contrast to row-crop planting, spring wheat planting saw a considerable boost last week, jumping ahead 21 percentage points to reach 81% complete as of Sunday. That put current planting progress slightly ahead of 80% at the same time last year and 9 percentage points behind the five-year average of 90%.

Spring wheat emergence continued to lag well behind average. NASS estimated that 51% of the crop had emerged as of Sunday, 10 percentage points ahead of last year’s 41% but 14 percentage points behind the average of 65%.

After two weeks of falling, winter wheat conditions rose last week. NASS estimated that 54% of the nation’s winter wheat was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, up 2 percentage points from 52% the previous week. The current good-to-excellent rating is still below the average of 61%.

“That part of the winter wheat crop rated very poor to poor was unchanged at 16%,” Mantini said. “Good-to-excellent ratings in key wheat-producing states include Kansas at 40%, Oklahoma at 60% and Texas at 42%. States with a high percentage of very-poor-to-poor wheat are Colorado at 39%, Kansas at 24% and Texas at 21%.”

Winter wheat was 68% headed as of Sunday, ahead of 63% last year but behind the five-year average of 72%.

Sorghum was 39% planted, ahead of 27% last year and near the five-year average of 38%. Oats were 93% planted, compared to 83% last year and an average of 94%. Oats emergence was at 78%, compared to 62% last year and an 81% average. Barley was 86% planted, ahead of 84% last year, but behind the five-year average of 91%.

Cotton planting was 53% complete, equal to both last year and average. Rice was 89% planted, ahead of 81% last year but behind the average of 92%. Rice emerged was 71%, behind the average of 77%. Rice was rated 62% in good-to-excellent condition.

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 Planted 88 80 55 82
Corn Emerged 64 43 28 58
Soybeans Planted 65 53 26 55
Soybeans Emerged 35 18 9 27
Winter Wheat Headed 68 56 63 72
Spring Wheat Planted 81 60 80 90
Spring Wheat Emerged 51 30 41 65
Cotton Planted 53 44 53 53
Sorghum Planted 39 32 27 38
Barley Planted 86 72 84 91
Barley Emerged 62 44 50 68
Oats Planted 93 86 83 94
Oats Emerged 78 69 62 81
Rice Planted 89 81 81 92
Rice Emerged 71 57 60 77

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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 1 4 25 58 12 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Winter Wheat 5 11 30 46 8 5 11 32 44 8 2 7 30 48 13
Rice 1 2 35 51 11 1 2 34 53 10 1 5 30 54 10
Oats 3 23 62 12 1 2 22 65 10 3 5 34 51 7

Anthony Greder can be reached at [email protected]

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN