Condition ratings for both U.S. corn and soybeans fell last week, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

NASS estimated that 69% of the corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, July 12, down 2 percentage points from 71% the previous week.

“The larger rating reductions were seen in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Nebraska and Iowa,” said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman. “Wisconsin and Missouri saw slight increases. This week’s national good-to-excellent rating is tied for the fourth-highest in 10 years.”

Corn silking picked up speed last week, jumping ahead 19 percentage points to reach 29% as of Sunday. That was well ahead of 14% at the same time last year and just 3 percentage points behind the five-year average of 32%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 3%, equal to the average pace.

Meanwhile, soybean development continued to run ahead of normal last week. Soybeans blooming was estimated at 48%, 8 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 40%. The portion of the crop setting pods — mainly in the South — was estimated at 11%, slightly ahead of the five-year average of 10%.

As with corn, the national soybean condition rating dropped last week. NASS estimated that 68% of the soybean crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of July 12, down 3 percentage points from 71% the previous week.

“States with 3-point rating drops or more included Ohio, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota,” Hultman said. “Wisconsin posted the largest rating increase of 4 points. Monday’s new good-to-excellent rating for soybeans is the fourth-highest in 10 years.”

Winter wheat harvest made steady progress again last week, moving ahead 12 percentage points to reach 68% complete as of Sunday, 2 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 66%.

NASS was no longer reporting winter wheat conditions in Monday’s report.

The percentage of spring wheat headed gained another 17 percentage points last week to reach 80% as of Sunday but remained 5 percentage points behind the five-year average of 85%.

Spring wheat condition, like that of row crops, fell last week. NASS estimated that 68% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, down 2 percentage points from 70% the previous week.

“South Dakota suffered a 9-percentage-point drop, while spring wheat in Montana declined 3 percentage points,” Hultman said. “Monday’s 68% good-to-excellent rating is the third-worst in 10 years, only rated higher than crops in 2014 and 2017.”

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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 29 10 14 32
Corn Dough 3 NA 2 3
Soybeans Blooming 48 31 19 40
Soybeans Setting Pods 11 2 3 10
Winter Wheat Harvested 68 56 54 66
Spring Wheat Headed 80 63 72 85
Cotton Squaring 63 47 56 62
Cotton Setting Bolls 18 13 18 21
Sorghum Headed 27 24 23 28
Sorghum Coloring 15 14 14 17
Barley Headed 75 60 69 84
Oats Headed 93 85 83 93
Oats Harvested 12 NA 9 12
Rice Headed 24 19 22 27

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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 6 23 52 17 1 5 23 54 17 3 9 30 48 10
Soybean 2 5 25 54 14 1 4 24 57 14 3 9 34 46 8
Spring Wheat 2 6 24 57 11 1 5 24 59 11 – 4 20 66 10
Cotton 4 22 30 36 8 4 19 34 36 7 3 12 29 47 9
Rice – 2 24 56 18 1 3 23 55 18 1 6 26 50 17
Sorghum 3 13 38 39 7 2 10 40 44 4 1 2 23 61 13
Oats 2 8 29 50 11 2 8 28 51 11 2 5 25 57 11
Barley 1 4 26 46 23 1 4 22 49 24 – 5 19 62 14

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

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN