USDA Crop Progress Report - Corn 7% Harvested, Soybeans 3% Harvested

OMAHA (DTN) -- After a faster-than-average start, the U.S. corn harvest slowed last week and fell slightly behind the average pace as of Sunday, Sept. 18, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. The soybean harvest was also running behind its average pace, NASS said.

CORN

-- Harvest progress: 7% of corn was harvested as of Sunday, up just 2 percentage points from the previous week. That puts the current harvest progress 2 percentage points behind last year and 1 percentage point behind the five-year average of 8%. "Texas leads the way at 68% harvested, while Iowa and Illinois are 2% harvested each," noted DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

-- Crop development: Corn dented was estimated at 87%, 1 percentage point behind the average. Corn mature was estimated at 40%, 5 percentage points behind the five-year average of 45%.

-- Crop condition: 52% of corn was rated in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 percentage point from 53% the previous week and 7 percentage points below last year's rating of 59%.

SOYBEANS

-- Harvest progress: In its first soybean harvest progress report of the season, NASS estimated that 3% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, 2 percentage points behind both last year's pace and the five-year average of 5%. "Louisiana and Mississippi are well ahead of the pack, but harvest has started in Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota and Indiana," Hultman said.

-- Crop development: 42% of soybeans were dropping leaves, 5 percentage points behind the five-year average of 47%.

-- Crop condition: 55% of soybeans were rated in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 percentage point from 56% the previous week and 3 percentage points below last year's rating of 58%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Planting progress: Winter wheat planting moved ahead 11 percentage points last week to reach 21% as of Sunday. That is 1 percentage point ahead of last year and 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 17%. "Montana and Texas are well ahead of the average pace of planting, at 35% and 33%, respectively," said DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

-- Crop development: 2% of winter wheat was emerged as of Sunday, equal to the five-year average.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest moved ahead 9 percentage points last week to reach 94% complete as of Sunday, equal to the five-year average. "Minnesota and North Dakota are 92% and 91% harvested, respectively," Mantini said.

WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

The weather should be mostly favorable this week for farmers who are ready to harvest, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick. However, a lack of moisture could cause problems for winter wheat planting and emergence, he said.

"Scattered showers will come with a couple of fronts and systems this week," Baranick said. "Showers and thunderstorms do not look overly heavy or widespread, so delays to harvest are going to be few. But there will be a drastic change to temperatures. Highs early this week are in the 90s and nearing 100 degrees Fahrenheit for many areas and in the Central and Southern Plains especially. A front will swing down through the majority of the country Tuesday through Thursday, and we'll see a drastic change going from ahead to behind the front, putting temperatures to more seasonable levels behind it, even below normal in a few cases across the Midwest.

"Another system is going to move out of the West and through the Corn Belt late Thursday through the weekend. Again, there should be some scattered showers but nothing that looks overly heavy that would delay harvest. Temperatures will come down behind that system again going into early next week.

"Any bouts of showers look like they'll skip over most of hard red winter wheat territory, leaving the southwestern Plains very hot and dry with poor weather for planting and establishment. Looking at the longer range, there aren't many opportunities for decent rainfall coming anytime soon to this part of the country."