USDA Crop Progress - Corn 68% Good to Excellent, Soybeans 67% Good to Excellent as of July 28

OMAHA (DTN) -- The condition of the nation's corn crop rose slightly last week, while soybean conditions fell slightly, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

NASS also reported that the winter wheat harvest continued slightly ahead of the five-year average pace, while the spring wheat harvest kicked off slightly behind average.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 77%, 2 percentage points behind last year's 79% but 1 point ahead of the five-year average of 76%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 30%, 5 points ahead of last year's 25% and 8 points ahead of the five-year average of 22%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, back up 1 percentage point from 67% the previous week and still well ahead of last year's 55%. Nine percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, down 1 point from 10% from the previous week and still below 15% last year. "Illinois' corn was rated 70% good to excellent, Iowa 77% and Nebraska 74% good to excellent," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming were pegged at 77%, 2 points behind last year's pace of 79% but 3 points ahead of the five-year average of 74%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 44%, 2 points behind last year's 46% but 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 40%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 67% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 point from 68% the previous week but still above last year's rating of 52% good to excellent. "Seventy-two percent of the soybean crop in Illinois was rated good to excellent, and Iowa's soybean crop was rated 76% good to excellent," Mantini said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead 6 percentage points to reach 82% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 5 points ahead of last year's 77% and 2 points ahead of the five-year average pace of 80%. "The remaining work is mostly in the northwestern Plains and Pacific Northwest," noted DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Crop development: 94% of spring wheat was headed, 2 percentage points behind last year's 96% and 2 points behind the five-year average of 96%.

-- Harvest progress: In its first spring wheat harvest report of the season, NASS estimated that just 1% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, 1 point behind last year's 2% and 2 points behind the five-year average of 3%. Most harvesting took place in South Dakota and Washington, Hultman said.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 74% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, down 3 points from 77% the previous week. That remains well ahead of last year's rating of 42% good to excellent.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Most of the country will be experiencing a heatwave this week, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"It is a hot week, and temperatures are above normal just about everywhere in the country," Baranick said. "Highs in the 90s Fahrenheit are or will be widespread, and many in the Central and Southern Plains will eclipse the 100-degree mark.

"Fronts moving through the Corn Belt will bring some clusters of showers and thunderstorms, though. That may help to tamp down some of the highs in these areas, and the rain will be needed to combat the heat. But not all areas are going to be hit, and there is a significant potential of under forecasting in many areas. On the flip side, there are likely to be some of these clusters that will overproduce precipitation, tapping into the heat and humidity that are widespread in the country.

"A front will sag down into the Northern Plains this weekend and could be the start of some cooler weather for next week, but the heat will be a concern for those that do not see much rain. The Plains and Southeast are the primary areas to be concerned about, though some of these areas do have good soil moisture to combat the heat despite a lack of rain this week."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	77	61	79	76
Corn Dough	30	17	25	22
Soybeans Blooming	77	65	79	74
Soybeans Setting Pods	44	29	46	40
Winter Wheat Harvested	82	76	77	80
Spring Wheat Headed	94	89	96	96
Spring Wheat Harvested	1	NA	2	3
Cotton Squaring	87	81	84	84
Cotton Setting Bolls	54	42	44	46
Sorghum Headed	47	34	42	42
Sorghum Coloring	22	19	22	21
Oats Harvested	35	22	31	31
Barley Headed	89	84	96	96
Barley Harvested	2	NA	4	4
Rice Headed	71	58	58	49

**

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	3	6	23	52	16		3	7	23	51	16		5	10	30	45	10
Soybeans	2	6	25	54	13		2	6	24	56	12		5	10	33	44	8
Spring Wheat	-	4	22	63	11		1	4	18	65	12		3	13	42	40	2
Sorghum	4	9	32	45	10		4	7	29	48	12		6	10	29	43	12
Cotton	9	13	29	40	9		7	11	29	42	11		13	18	28	35	6
Rice	1	2	14	65	18		1	3	13	62	21		1	4	24	56	15
Oat	6	5	23	54	12		6	5	23	55	11		7	11	39	39	4
Barley	-	5	26	62	7		-	3	23	68	6		1	6	43	44	6