The condition of the U.S. soybean crop rose slightly last week while the condition of corn was unchanged, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. Development of both crops was slightly ahead of normal.

NASS estimated that 69% of the corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, July 19, unchanged from the previous week.

“Of the major corn-producing states, the best-rated crops are still Iowa (80% good to excellent), Minnesota (83% g/e), Wisconsin (81% g/e) and South Dakota at 84% good to excellent,” said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

Corn silking jumped ahead 30 percentage points to reach 59% as of Sunday. That was well ahead of 30% at the same time last year and moved this year’s silking progress to 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 54%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 9%, also ahead of the five-year average of 7% by 2 percentage points.

Soybean development also continued to run ahead of normal last week. Soybeans blooming was estimated at 64%, 7 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 57%. The portion of the crop setting pods was estimated at 25%, 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 21%.

Soybean conditions improved slightly last week. NASS estimated that 69% of the soybean crop was in good-to-excellent condition as of July 19, up 1 percentage point from 68% the previous week.

“Major soybean-producing states with the highest ratings are Minnesota and Iowa at 80% and 79% good to excellent, respectively, with Nebraska at 71% and Illinois at 67%,” Mantini said. “Ohio’s soybean crop is the worst rated at 48% good to excellent due to having the highest percentage of very poor to poor at 14%.”

Winter wheat harvest slowed last week, moving ahead 6 percentage points compared to 12 percentage points the previous week. An estimated 74% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 75%.

“Harvest is finished in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas,” said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman. “States within 5 percentage points of being done are Missouri, Kansas, Indiana and Ohio. Nebraska is 79% harvested, and South Dakota is at 33%.”

The percentage of spring wheat headed reached 91% as of Sunday, 3 percentage points behind the five-year average of 94%.

Spring wheat condition held steady at 68% good to excellent.

“Sixty-two percent of the North Dakota crop was rated good to excellent, up from 61% last week,” Hultman said. “Montana has the highest good-to-excellent rating of 79%.”

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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 59 29 30 54
Corn Dough 9 3 4 7
Soybeans Blooming 64 48 35 57
Soybeans Setting Pods 25 11 6 21
Winter Wheat Harvested 74 68 66 75
Spring Wheat Headed 91 80 88 94
Cotton Squaring 73 63 73 75
Cotton Setting Bolls 27 18 29 32
Sorghum Headed 34 27 26 34
Sorghum Coloring 19 15 15 19
Barley Headed 88 75 86 93
Oats Headed 96 93 92 97
Oats Harvested 20 12 11 19
Rice Headed 32 24 29 39

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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 2 6 23 52 17 3 10 30 47 10
Soybean 2 5 24 54 15 2 5 25 54 14 3 9 34 46 8
Spring Wheat 2 5 25 55 13 2 6 24 57 11 – 4 20 63 13
Cotton 5 17 31 39 8 4 22 30 36 8 2 8 30 50 10
Rice – 3 24 57 16 – 2 24 56 18 1 6 28 46 19
Sorghum 3 9 37 43 8 3 13 38 39 7 1 2 24 60 13
Oats 2 8 29 52 9 2 8 29 50 11 3 5 28 52 12
Barley – 4 21 48 27 1 4 26 46 23 – 5 19 58 18

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

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN