The gap between the current percentage of U.S. corn and soybeans that has reached maturity and the five-year average narrowed slightly last week, but harvest progress for both crops slipped further behind the average pace, according to USDA NASS’ latest Crop Progress report released Monday.

As of Sunday, 58% of corn was estimated as mature, 27 percentage points behind the five-year average of 85%. That was slightly closer to the average pace than last week, when corn mature was running 30 percentage points behind average.

“North Dakota’s corn crop is just 22% mature compared to 75% average, and Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota and Missouri are lagging,” said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

Nationwide, corn harvest progressed another 4 percentage points to reach 15% as of Sunday, 12 percentage points behind the five-year average of 27%. That was further behind average than last week, when harvest was 8 percentage points behind average.

“Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota and Michigan are all just 1% to 4% harvested,” Mantini said.

The condition of corn still in fields was estimated at 56% good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week, and still the lowest good-to-excellent rating for the crop at this time of year since 2013. The poor-to-very-poor category moved up another 1 percentage point to 15%.

Soybeans dropping leaves reached 72% as of Sunday, 15 percentage points behind the five-year average of 87% — an improvement from last week when the percent of the crop dropping leaves was running 21 percentage points behind average.

Soybean harvest moved ahead 7 percentage points last week to reach 14%, 20 percentage points behind the five-year average of 34%. That was further behind average than in last Monday’s report, when soybean harvest was running 13 percentage points behind the average pace.

“Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin are the slowest harvesting soybeans at 3% to 6% done,” Mantini said.

Soybean condition was rated 53% good to excellent, down 2 percentage points from 55% the previous week. As with corn, that remains the lowest good-to-excellent rating in six years.

Spring wheat harvest stalled last week, moving ahead only 1 percentage point to reach 91% as of Sunday, 8 percentage points behind the five-year average of 99%.

Winter wheat planting progress, which had been slightly ahead of average in last Monday’s report, stood at 52% as of Sunday, falling slightly behind the five-year average of 53%. Winter wheat emerged was estimated at 26%, equal to the five-year average.

Sorghum mature was estimated at 65%, behind the average of 73%. Sorghum harvested reached 33%, behind the five-year average of 40%.

Cotton bolls opening was estimated at 83%, ahead of the average of 75%. Cotton harvested was estimated at 25%, also ahead of the five-year average of 20%. Rice harvested was 76%, behind the average of 80%.

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 Dented 93 88 100 99
Corn Mature 58 43 92 85
Corn Harvested 15 11 33 27
Soybeans Dropping Leaves 72 55 90 87
Soybeans Harvested 14 7 31 34
Spring Wheat Harvested 91 90 100 99
Winter Wheat Planted 52 39 55 53
Winter Wheat Emerged 26 11 28 26
Cotton Bolls Opening 83 77 76 75
Cotton Harvested 25 16 24 20
Sorghum Mature 65 54 71 73
Sorghum Harvested 33 30 38 40
Rice Harvested 76 68 78 80

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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 4 11 29 45 11 4 10 29 46 11 4 8 20 47 21
Soybeans 4 11 32 45 8 3 10 32 46 9 3 7 22 49 19
Cotton 4 15 42 32 7 3 17 40 34 6 6 19 33 32 10
Sorghum 2 5 28 51 14 2 6 27 50 15 5 11 29 44 11

**

National Soil Moisture Condition – 48 States
(VS = Very Short; SH = Short; AD = Adequate; SR = Surplus)
This Week Last Week Last Year
VS SH AD SR VS SH AD SR VS SH AD SR
Topsoil Moisture 11 16 53 20 11 20 55 14 6 13 63 18
Subsoil Moisture 10 18 57 15 10 20 59 11 8 17 63 12

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

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN