USDA Crop Progress - Corn 49% Planted, Soybeans 35% Planted

OMAHA (DTN) -- Corn and soybean planting heated up last week along with the weather, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress Report on Monday. Almost half of the nation's corn crop was in the ground by the end of the week.

CORN

-- Planting progress: Corn planting sped up last week, moving ahead 23 percentage points to reach 49% as of Sunday, May 7. That is 28 percentage points ahead of last year's 21% and 7 points ahead of the five-year average of 42%. Notable states: Iowa corn was 70% planted, and Illinois was 73% planted, both well ahead of their respective averages of 53% and 46%, noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. Northern states continued to struggle with North Dakota at just 1% planted, 10 points behind average, and Michigan at 6% planted versus an 18% average. Minnesota was about even with the average at 38% done. Missouri's corn was 92% planted.

-- Crop progress: 12% of corn had emerged as of Sunday, up 6 percentage points from the previous week and still just 1 percentage point ahead of the average of 11%.

SOYBEANS

-- Planting progress: Soybean planting moved ahead 16 percentage points last week to reach 35% as of Sunday, 24 percentage points ahead of last year's 11% and 14 points ahead of the five-year average of 21%. Notable states: Illinois was 66% planted, and Iowa was at 49%, both well ahead of their average pace, Mantini noted. Missouri was 50% planted, nearly 40 points ahead of average. North Dakota had zero soybeans planted versus a 4% average, and Minnesota was 13% planted, trailing its average of 21%.

-- Crop progress: 9% of soybeans were emerged as of Sunday, 6 percentage points ahead of last year's 3% and 5 points ahead of the average of 4%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Crop development: 38% of winter wheat was headed nationwide as of Sunday, up 13 percentage points from the previous week and 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 35%.

-- Crop condition: Nationwide, winter wheat was rated 29% good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from 28% the previous week and even with last year's rating at the same time. "The poor to very poor rating increased 2 percentage points to 44% as of Sunday," Mantini said. "In Kansas, only 11% of the crop was rated good to excellent, while 68% was rated poor to very poor -- up 4 points. Texas and Oklahoma crops were rated 56% and 64% poor to very poor, respectively."

SPRING WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 24% of the spring wheat crop was planted as of Sunday, up 12 percentage points from the previous week but 14 percentage points behind the five-year average of 38%. Notable states: North Dakota was just 10% planted versus a 27% average, and Minnesota was 7% planted, down from the 34% average, Mantini noted.

-- Crop progress: 5% of spring wheat was emerged as of Sunday, up 3 percentage point from the previous week and 6 percentage points behind the five-year average of 11%.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

The entire country will see another week of mild to warm weather, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick. Some areas will also see showers and thunderstorms that could delay planting, while others will stay dry.

"This week will feature a lot of areas of showers and thunderstorms, but a lot of it will be disorganized in smaller groups and clusters of intense precipitation instead of widespread areas of moderate rain," Baranick said. "Just about every part of the main growing regions between the Rockies and the Appalachians are looking at this scenario, and rain could hit some of the drought areas again."

Baranick described the precipitation outlook for the country this week as a have-and-have-not situation where some areas are hit with showers and thunderstorms and others escape. "Some planting delays may occur for any wet areas that get hit repeatedly, but most areas are likely to withstand the troubles," he said.

"Rain at this time of year can be a double-edged sword whereby those with seed in the ground want the rain, while others looking to get their seed in the ground would prefer it to hold off. This week may be the best of both worlds in most cases."

"Whether or not rain falls, temperatures are going to continue to be mild or warm, which will further promote planting as long as soil conditions allow."