By Anthony Greder
DTN Managing Editor
OMAHA (DTN) -- The nation's soybean harvest fell further behind the normal pace last week, and corn harvest also slowed to just a couple points ahead of average, USDA's National Ag Statistics Service said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.
As of Sunday, Oct. 21, 53% of the soybean crop was harvested, 16 points behind the five-year average of 69%. That's slightly further behind average than the previous week when harvest stood at 15 points behind the five-year average.
"Illinois and Indiana are the only major producers ahead of their five-year average pace," said DTN Analyst Todd Hultman. "Iowa's soybeans are only 37% harvested versus a five-year average of 71% for this time of year."
Despite concerns about the quality of the crop in some parts of the country, NASS left its good-to-excellent condition rating for soybeans unchanged at 68% last week.
Corn harvest also slowed again last week. At 49% complete, harvest was only 2 percentage points ahead of the average pace of 47%. That was nearer to normal than the previous week when harvest was 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average.
Corn condition also held steady nationwide last week at 68% good to excellent.
Winter wheat planting was 72% complete as of Sunday, near 73% last year at the same time but behind the five-year average of 77%. Winter wheat emerged, at 53%, was ahead of last year's 50% but slightly behind the average pace of 55%.
"Not much progress was made in Texas, Oklahoma or Kansas where wheat plantings are 63%, 75% and 67%, respectively," Hultman said.
Forty-six percent of the sorghum crop was harvested as of Sunday, up just 4 percentage points from the previous week, equal to last year and 10 percentage points behind the five-year average of 56%.
Ninety percent of rice was harvested as of Sunday, behind last year's 97% and also behind the five-year average of 94%.
Eighty-eight percent of cotton had bolls opening as of Sunday, near the average of 89%. Thirty-nine percent of cotton was harvested, ahead of last year's 36% and also ahead of the average pace of 33%.
Cotton condition fell again slightly from 35% good to excellent the previous week to 34% last week.
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 Harvested | 49 | 39 | 37 | 47 |
| Soybeans Harvested | 53 | 38 | 67 | 69 |
| Winter Wheat Planted | 72 | 65 | 73 | 77 |
| Winter Wheat Emerged | 53 | 44 | 50 | 55 |
| Cotton Bolls Opening | 88 | 85 | 86 | 89 |
| Cotton Harvested | 39 | 32 | 36 | 33 |
| Sorghum Mature | 89 | 81 | 88 | 89 |
| Sorghum Harvested | 46 | 42 | 46 | 56 |
| Rice Harvested | 90 | 88 | 97 | 94 |
| | | | |
**
|
|
| 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 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 48 | 20 | | 4 | 8 | 20 | 47 | 21 | | 3 | 8 | 23 | 50 | 16 |
| Soybeans | 3 | 8 | 23 | 48 | 18 | | 3 | 8 | 23 | 48 | 18 | | 3 | 9 | 27 | 48 | 13 |
| Sorghum | 6 | 12 | 29 | 43 | 10 | | 6 | 11 | 28 | 44 | 11 | | 2 | 6 | 27 | 52 | 13 |
| Cotton | 13 | 20 | 33 | 26 | 8 | | 11 | 20 | 34 | 29 | 6 | | 5 | 9 | 30 | 42 | 14 |
Anthony Greder can be reached at Anthony.greder@dtn.com
Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN
(AG)
© Copyright 2018 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.