U.S. farmers maintained their faster-than-normal corn and soybean planting pace last week, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

NASS estimated that 80% of the nation’s intended corn crop was planted as of Sunday, May 17, a gain of 13 percentage points from the previous week. That was 36 percentage points ahead of last year at the same time and 9 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 71%.

“Iowa led the way at 96% complete, followed by Minnesota at 95%,” said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman. “North Dakota and Pennsylvania showed the only obvious problems, at 20% and 15% planted, respectively.”

Forty-three percent of corn was emerged, 27 percentage points ahead of last year and 3 percentage points ahead of the average pace of 40%.

Soybean planting moved ahead another 15 percentage points to reach 53% complete as of Sunday. That was 37 percentage points ahead of 16% last year and 15 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 38%.

“Again, Iowa was the planting leader at 86% finished,” Hultman said. “Among major soybean-producing states, Nebraska was second at 78% and Minnesota was third at 74%. This year’s problem child, North Dakota, was 9% planted.”

Soybean emergence was estimated at 18% as of Sunday, ahead of both last year’s 4% and the five-year average of 12%.

Spring wheat planting continued to lag behind normal. NASS estimated that 60% of the crop was planted as of Sunday, falling behind both last year’s progress of 63% and the five-year average of 80%. North Dakota spring wheat was only 41% planted, down from its five-year average of 76%, Hultman noted.

Thirty percent of the spring wheat crop had emerged, ahead of 21% last year but behind the five-year average of 46%.

Meanwhile, winter wheat condition dropped for a second week in a row. NASS estimated that 52% of the nation’s winter wheat was rated in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, down 1 percentage point from 53% the previous week. The current good-to-excellent rating is down from 66% a year ago.

“States with high poor-to-very-poor ratings included Colorado at 44%, Kansas at 23%, Oregon at 22% and Texas at 18%,” Hultman said. “For the U.S., the current winter wheat poor-to-very-poor rating of 16% is twice the amount of last year’s 8% for this time.”

Winter wheat was 56% headed as of Sunday, ahead of 51% last year but behind the five-year average of 62%.

Sorghum was 32% planted, ahead of 25% last year but behind the five-year average of 34%. Oats were 86% planted, compared to 73% last year and an average of 87%. Oats emergence was at 69%, compared to 50% last year and a 70% average. Barley was 72% planted, ahead of 71% last year, but behind the five-year average of 82%.

Cotton planting was 44% complete, compared to 39% last year and a 40% average. Rice was 81% planted, ahead of 68% last year but behind the average of 84%. Rice emerged was 57%, behind the average of 68%. Rice was rated 63% in good-to-excellent condition.

To view weekly crop progress reports issued by National Ag Statistics Service offices in individual states, visit 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 Planted 80 67 44 71
Corn Emerged 43 24 16 40
Soybeans Planted 53 38 16 38
Soybeans Emerged 18 7 4 12
Winter Wheat Headed 56 44 51 62
Spring Wheat Planted 60 42 63 80
Spring Wheat Emerged 30 16 21 46
Cotton Planted 44 32 39 40
Sorghum Planted 32 28 25 34
Barley Planted 72 60 71 82
Barley Emerged 44 24 35 52
Oats Planted 86 78 73 87
Oats Emerged 69 55 50 70
Rice Planted 81 70 68 84
Rice Emerged 57 43 49 68

**

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
Winter Wheat 5 11 32 44 8 5 11 31 45 8 2 6 26 50 16
Rice 1 2 34 53 10 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Oats 1 2 22 65 10 1 2 28 59 10 NA NA NA NA NA

 

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN