USDA Crop Progress - Corn 91% Planted, Rated 75% in Good-to-Excellent Condition; Soybeans 78% Planted as of June 2

OMAHA (DTN) -- The condition of the U.S. corn crop is starting off significantly better this year than it did last year, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress on Monday.

Planting progress and crop development also remain slightly ahead of the five-year averages for both corn and soybeans nationwide, NASS said.

CORN

-- Planting progress: Corn planting moved ahead 8 percentage points last week, slower than the previous week's progress of 13 percentage points. Planting reached 91% complete nationwide as of Sunday, June 2, 2 points ahead of the five-year average of 89%. This year's progress continued to lag last year by 4 percentage points. "Ninety-three percent of the corn in Iowa has been planted, Illinois is at 89% and Minnesota is at 93%," noted DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

-- Crop development: 74% of corn had emerged as of Sunday, 7 points behind last year's 81% and 1 point ahead of the five-year average of 73%.

-- Crop condition: In its first condition rating of the season for corn, NASS estimated that 75% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, 11 percentage points higher than 64% a year ago. Only 4% of the crop was rated very poor to poor compared to 6% last year.

SOYBEANS

-- Planting progress: Soybean planting moved ahead 10 points last week, slower than the previous week's pace of 16 percentage points, to reach 78% complete as of Sunday. That was 11 percentage points behind last year's pace of 89% but 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 73%. "Fifty-eight percent of the soybean crop has been planted in Illinois, and Iowa is at 60%," Hultman said.

-- Crop development: 55% of soybeans had emerged as of Sunday, 14 points behind last year's 69% but 3 points ahead of the five-year average of 52%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Crop development: 83% of winter wheat was headed as of Sunday. That was 4 points ahead of 79% at this time last year and 5 points ahead of the five-year average of 78%. "Montana, Idaho and South Dakota are lagging at 12%, 18% and 22% headed, respectively," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

-- Harvest progress: 6% of the nation's winter wheat crop was harvested as of Sunday, 3 points ahead of both last year and the five-year average pace of 3%. "Texas' winter wheat harvest is at 33% complete, and Oklahoma is at 22%, both ahead of the average pace," Mantini said.

-- Crop condition: 49% of the crop was rated in good-to-excellent condition, up 1 point from 48% the previous week and still up considerably from 36% a year ago. The percentage rated very poor to poor was down 1 point to 18% and is still well below last year's 34% at this time. "Kansas winter wheat is rated at 34% good to excellent with 34% of that crop poor to very poor," Mantini noted.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 94% of spring wheat was planted as of Sunday, 3 points ahead of 91% last year and 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 90%.

-- Crop development: 78% of spring wheat has emerged, 7 points ahead of 71% last year and 9 points ahead of the five-year average of 69%.

-- Crop condition: In its first condition rating of the season for spring wheat, NASS estimated that 74% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, 10 points higher than last year's good-to-excellent rating of 64%. "Minnesota's and North Dakota's spring wheat crops are rated 80% and 82% good to excellent, respectively, while South Dakota leads the pack at 86% good to excellent," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Two more storm systems could hamper planting progress in the first half of this week, but that will be followed by drier, cooler conditions the second half of the week into next week, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"Areas of heavy rain have been a hindrance to the remaining planting, though producers have made some incredible progress anyway," Baranick said. "Two storm systems continue that obstacle through Wednesday. The upper-level pattern will be changing, promoting a drier and cooler pattern for the remainder of the week and through next week as well, but there are going to be some areas that stay wet anyway.

"The second storm system will ball up in the Great Lakes and continue showers around there through the weekend. That system will also leave behind a front in the Central Plains that should start to get active through early next week and will probably extend into the Tennessee Valley this weekend. We are likely to see another system move through the country early-to-mid next week with more scattered showers and thunderstorms.

"The rain hasn't been all bad, as it has fallen on the last vestiges of the drought in the Midwest, and the building drought across western Kansas, but those with crops yet to plant or needing to replant will still see obstacles. Soil moisture is really good around the country, though, and there are not very many pockets that really need the rain at this point in the season. For much of the country, the continued rain and good soil moisture is good news for early growth."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Planted	91	83	95	89
Corn Emerged	74	58	81	73
Soybeans Planted	78	68	89	73
Soybeans Emerged	55	39	69	52
Winter Wheat Headed	83	77	79	78
Winter Wheat Harvested	6	NA	3	3
Spring Wheat Planted	94	88	91	90
Spring Wheat Emerged	78	61	71	69
Cotton Planted	70	59	68	70
Cotton Squaring	9	4	5	8
Sorghum Planted	51	42	47	46
Oats Planted	97	93	96	95
Oats Emerged	87	77	83	83
Oats Headed	33	29	30	28
Barley Planted	94	88	90	93
Barley Emerged	74	62	67	74
Rice Emerged	88	83	87	84

**

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	21	60	15		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		1	5	30	53	11
Winter Wheat	6	12	33	41	8		6	13	33	40	8		14	20	30	31	5
Spring Wheat	-	2	24	69	5		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		-	2	34	58	6
Rice	1	1	17	67	14		1	2	17	65	15		-	3	27	59	11
Oat	4	5	23	58	10		4	5	25	58	8		6	7	30	53	4
Barley	-	5	21	70	4		2	5	25	62	6		-	2	33	60	5
Cotton	3	5	31	54	7		1	4	35	52	8		1	11	37	43	8