By Anthony Greder
DTN Managing Editor
OMAHA (DTN) -- The good-to-excellent condition rating for the nation's corn crop was unchanged last week while soybeans' good-to-excellent rating was up slightly, according to the USDA National Ag Statistics Service's weekly Crop Progress report released Monday.
NASS estimated that 72% of the nation's corn was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, July 22, unchanged from the previous week. However, the crop's condition was down from 76% good to excellent at the same time of year in 2016, noted DTN Analyst Todd Hultman.
Corn development continued to speed along with NASS estimating that 81% of the crop was silking as of Sunday, 19 percentage points ahead of the five-year average pace of 62%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 18%, 10 percentage points ahead of 8% for both last year and the five-year average.
Meanwhile, soybean condition saw a slight increase from 69% good to excellent the previous week to 70% last week.
Soybean development also continued to run well ahead of normal, with NASS estimating 78% of the crop blooming as of Sunday, 15 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 63%. Forty-four percent of soybeans were estimated to be setting pods, 21 percentage points ahead of the five-year average pace of 23%.
"At the state level, both corn and soybeans showed slight improvement in Missouri, but were rated a little worse in Michigan," Hultman said.
NASS estimated that 80% of winter wheat was harvested as of Sunday, behind last year's pace of 83%, but slightly ahead of the five-year average of 79%.
Spring wheat was 96% headed as of Sunday, near last year's 95% and slightly ahead of the five-year average of 93%. The condition of the crop slipped 1 percentage point from 80% good to excellent the previous week to 79% last week. That's still the highest good-to-excellent rating for the crop for this time of year since 2010, Hultman said.
Sorghum was 42% headed as of Sunday, ahead of 37% last year and also ahead of the five-year average of 40%. Sorghum coloring was 22%, near 21% last year but behind the five-year average of 24%. Sorghum condition was rated 49% good to excellent, up 2 percentage points from 47% the previous week.
Barley was 94% headed as of Sunday, behind 96% last year and slightly behind the average pace of 95%. Barley condition fell 4 percentage from 85% good to excellent the previous week to 81% last week. Oats were 24% harvested as of Sunday, near 23% for both last year and the five-year average. Oat condition improved by 1 percentage point.
Rice was 46% headed as of Sunday, slightly behind 47% last year but ahead of the average of 41%. Cotton was 78% squaring, behind of the average of 81%. Forty-one percent of cotton was setting bolls, ahead of the average pace of 37%. Cotton condition was down 2 percentage points while rice's good-to-excellent rating was up 2 percentage points.
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 | 81 | 63 | 63 | 62 |
| Corn Dough | 18 | NA | 8 | 8 |
| Soybeans Blooming | 78 | 65 | 67 | 63 |
| Soybeans Setting Pods | 44 | 26 | 27 | 23 |
| Cotton Squaring | 78 | 72 | 76 | 81 |
| Cotton Setting Bolls | 41 | 31 | 35 | 37 |
| Sorghum Headed | 42 | 31 | 37 | 40 |
| Sorghum Coloring | 22 | 19 | 21 | 24 |
| Spring Wheat Headed | 96 | 93 | 95 | 93 |
| Winter Wheat Harvested | 80 | 74 | 83 | 79 |
| Rice Headed | 46 | 32 | 47 | 41 |
| Barley Headed | 94 | 90 | 96 | 95 |
| Oats Harvested | 24 | 16 | 23 | 23 |
**
|
|
| 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 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 50 | 22 | | 3 | 6 | 19 | 51 | 21 | | 4 | 8 | 26 | 49 | 13 |
| Soybeans | 2 | 6 | 22 | 52 | 18 | | 2 | 6 | 23 | 53 | 16 | | 4 | 10 | 29 | 47 | 10 |
| Spring Wheat | 1 | 3 | 17 | 65 | 14 | | 1 | 3 | 16 | 67 | 13 | | 21 | 19 | 27 | 28 | 5 |
| Sorghum | 5 | 11 | 35 | 44 | 5 | | 5 | 12 | 36 | 43 | 4 | | 2 | 6 | 33 | 52 | 7 |
| Cotton | 14 | 19 | 28 | 32 | 7 | | 10 | 18 | 31 | 34 | 7 | | 3 | 9 | 33 | 43 | 12 |
| Rice | 1 | 5 | 23 | 56 | 15 | | 1 | 5 | 25 | 56 | 13 | | 1 | 4 | 23 | 53 | 19 |
| Oats | 4 | 3 | 21 | 59 | 13 | | 4 | 3 | 22 | 58 | 13 | | 9 | 13 | 27 | 43 | 8 |
| Barley | - | 2 | 17 | 67 | 14 | | 1 | 2 | 12 | 70 | 15 | | 5 | 9 | 35 | 43 | 8 |
Anthony Greder can be reached at anthony.greder@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN
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