USDA Weekly Crop Progress

Corn and soybean conditions — for the portion of those crops that was planted and emerged — held steady last week, according to the latest USDA NASS Crop Progress report released Monday.

NASS has stopped reporting corn planting progress for this season. But, as of Sunday, June 30, an estimated 94% of corn that did get planted was emerged, 6 percentage points behind the five-year average of 100%. The portion of the crop that had emerged was rated 56% in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week.

“Notable corn conditions in a few states included the garden spots of Nebraska, which was rated 73% good to excellent, and Iowa, which was rated 64% good to excellent,” said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. “The worst good-to-excellent ratings were seen in Indiana with 39%, Missouri with 29% and Ohio with 31%. Illinois corn was rated 45% good to excellent.”

Soybean planting jumped another 7 percentage points last week to reach 92% complete as of Sunday. Progress was 7 percentage points behind the five-year average of 99%.

Nationwide, 83% of soybeans were emerged, 12 percentage points behind the average of 95%. That was an improvement from last Monday’s report when soybean emergence was 20 percentage points behind average. Notable lags in emergence where seen in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio, Mantini noted.

As with corn, the nationwide condition rating for soybeans held steady last week, at 54% good to excellent.

“States with the worst good-to-excellent soybean ratings included Ohio at 28%, Indiana at 37%, Missouri at 38%, Michigan at 43% and Illinois at 44%,” Mantini said.

Nationwide conditions for both corn and soybeans were slightly below what the trade had anticipated, Mantini said.

“The trade had expected a corn condition rating of 57% to 58% and a bean condition rating of 55%,” he said.

Winter wheat heading was nearly complete at 97%. Winter wheat harvest picked up speed last week, moving ahead 15 percentage points to reach 30% complete as of Sunday. However, harvest was still considerably behind last year’s 50% and the five-year average pace of 48%.

Sixty-three percent of the winter wheat remaining in fields was rated in good-to-excellent condition, up 2 percentage points from 61% the previous week. That was considerably better than last year’s good-to-excellent rating of 37% at the same time last year, Mantini noted.

Twenty-five percent of the spring wheat crop was headed, up 18 percentage points from the previous week. However, heading was still well behind last year’s 55% and the five-year average of 52%.

Spring wheat condition for the portion of the crop that was emerged was rated 75% good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week. Spring wheat good-to-excellent condition ratings in the major producing states of North Dakota and Minnesota were 81% and 83%, respectively, Mantini said.

Sorghum was 94% planted, compared to 98% last year and a five-year average of 96%. Twenty percent of sorghum was headed, just 3 percentage points behind the five-year average of 23%. Oats were 58% headed, behind the average of 81%.

Cotton squaring reached 37% as of Sunday, slightly behind of the average pace of 39%. Cotton setting bolls was 7%, also slightly behind the average of 9%. Ten percent of rice was headed, behind the average of 15%.

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.

**

**

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

Follow him on Twitter @AGrederDTN

Source: Anthony Greder, DTN