U.S. corn planting steadily moved toward the finish line while soybean planting reached the three-quarters finished mark last week, USDA NASS said in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

NASS estimated that 93% of the nation’s intended corn crop was planted as of Sunday, May 31, a gain of 5 percentage points last week. This year’s current progress is 29 percentage points ahead of last year at the same time and 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 89%.

“The only states lagging their five-year averages in corn planting are North Dakota, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee,” said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

Seventy-eight percent of corn had emerged, 36 percentage points ahead of last year and 5 percentage points ahead of the average pace of 73%.

NASS estimated that 74% of the corn crop was rated in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, up 4 percentage points from the previous week, but down from 79% at about the same time in 2018.

Meanwhile, soybean planting moved ahead 10 percentage points last week to reach 75% complete as of Sunday. That put this year’s current progress 39 percentage points ahead of last year’s pace and 7 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 68%.

“North Dakota was the farthest behind its usual pace in soybean planting, at 51% planted,” Hultman said.

Soybean emergence was estimated at 52% as of Sunday, well ahead of last year’s 17% and also ahead of the five-year average of 44%.

In its first soybean condition report of the season, NASS estimated that 70% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, down from 75% in 2018.

Spring wheat planting continued to close the gap between this year’s progress and the five-year average. An estimated 91% of the crop was planted as of Sunday, 1 percentage point ahead of last year and just 5 percentage points behind the five-year average of 96%.

“Key spring wheat producer North Dakota was 85% planted, 10 points behind average, while Minnesota was 97% planted,” noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

Spring wheat emergence jumped to 67% last week, ahead of last year’s 63% but 13 percentage points behind the average of 80%.

In its first spring wheat condition report of the season, NASS estimated that 80% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition.

After rising the previous week, winter wheat conditions fell last week. NASS estimated that 51% of the nation’s winter wheat was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, down 3 percentage points from 54% the previous week. The current good-to-excellent rating is below last year’s 64%.

“Condition ratings in some key winter-wheat-producing states were Kansas at 42% good to excellent with 25% very poor to poor, and Illinois at 56% good to excellent and 14% very poor to poor,” Mantini said. “Montana wheat condition was 80% good to excellent, Nebraska was 64% good to excellent and Oklahoma was 56% good to excellent. Colorado’s wheat crop continues to be in the poorest condition, with 31% good to excellent and 41% very poor to poor.”

Seventy-seven percent of winter wheat was headed at the end of last week compared to 73% last year at the same time and a five-year average of 81%. Notable laggards were Michigan, with just 20% headed, 10 points behind average; Nebraska at 41% headed versus 66% average; and South Dakota at 23% headed versus 35% average, Mantini said.

Winter wheat harvest was 3% done as of Sunday, near the five-year average of 2%. Texas was 32% harvested compared to a 21% average, and Arkansas was 14% harvested compared to an average of 6%, Mantini noted.

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 Planted 93 88 64 89
Corn Emerged 78 64 42 73
Soybeans Planted 75 65 36 68
Soybeans Emerged 52 35 17 44
Winter Wheat Headed 77 68 73 81
Winter Wheat Harvested 3 NA 1 2
Spring Wheat Planted 91 81 90 96
Spring Wheat Emerged 67 51 63 80
Cotton Planted 66 53 67 66
Cotton Squaring 8 NA 7 7
Sorghum Planted 49 39 33 46
Barley Planted 93 86 92 96
Barley Emerged 74 62 68 81
Oats Planted 96 93 89 97
Oats Emerged 86 78 74 89
Oats Headed 27 NA 22 29
Rice Planted 93 89 89 96
Rice Emerged 81 71 72 86

**

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 1 3 22 61 13 1 4 25 58 12 NA NA NA NA NA
Soybean 1 3 26 60 10 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Winter Wheat 6 13 30 43 8 5 11 30 46 8 2 7 27 50 14
Spring Wheat 1 1 18 72 8 NA NA NA NA NA 1 4 21 63 11
Cotton 1 7 48 39 5 NA NA NA NA NA 3 10 41 38 8
Rice – 2 29 55 14 1 2 35 51 11 1 6 32 52 9
Sorghum 2 4 30 56 8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
Oats 1 3 25 59 12 – 3 23 62 12 3 5 34 51 7
Barley – 1 30 61 8 – 2 31 61 6 – 1 11 78 10

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

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN