USDA Crop Progress - Corn, Soybean Ratings Unchanged at 68% Good to Excellent as of July 14

OMAHA (DTN) -- Despite scattered reports of crop damage from hail, high winds and flooding in some states across the Corn Belt, national condition ratings for both corn and soybeans held steady last week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

Development of both crops also continued ahead of five-year average paces, NASS said.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 41%, 1 percentage point ahead of last year's 40% and 9 points ahead of the five-year average of 32%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 8%, 2 points ahead of last year's 6% and 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 4%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week and still well ahead of last year's 57%. Nine percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, unchanged from the previous week and below 13% last year. "The good-to-excellent rating for corn jumped 8 percentage points in Illinois to 73%, while dropping 4 percentage points in Minnesota to 58%," noted DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming was pegged at 51%, equal to last year's pace but 7 points ahead of the five-year average of 44%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 18%, slightly ahead of last year's 17% and 6 points ahead of the five-year average of 12%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, also unchanged from the previous week and above last year's rating of 55% good to excellent. "Higher soybean ratings in Illinois and Kansas were offset by lower ratings in Tennessee, South Dakota, Mississippi and Minnesota," Hultman said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead 8 percentage points to reach 71% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 18 points ahead of last year's 53% and 9 points ahead of the five-year average pace of 52%. "Kansas' winter wheat is 97% harvested, Illinois is at 96% and Arkansas 100% harvested," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini. "Harvest in Montana has not yet started, with Idaho and Washington from 3% to 5% done."

SPRING WHEAT

-- Crop development: 76% of spring wheat was headed, 6 percentage points behind last year's 82% and 2 points behind the five-year average of 78%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 77% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, up 2 percentage points from 75% the previous week. That remains well ahead of last year's rating of 51% good to excellent. "Minnesota and North Dakota still have the two highest good-to-excellent spring wheat ratings at 81% and 82% good to excellent, respectively, while the crop in Washington has the lowest rating, at 48%," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

A cold front will move across the U.S. this week, bringing lower temperatures but also the threat of storms with potentially damaging winds, according to DTN Meteorologist Teresa Wells.

"A cold front will provide storms to the Midwest through Tuesday," Wells said. "Eastern Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and western Indiana could see a derecho move through later Monday into early Tuesday morning, which could bring damaging winds. By Tuesday, the severe weather will be centered across the Central Plains and Ohio Valley as the cold front shifts south. Behind the cold front, cooler temperatures will arrive for the north-central U.S. with high temperatures across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest approaching the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit by Wednesday.

"As the cold front shifts south, it is forecast to stall out across the Southern U.S. There will be daily chances for widespread, scattered showers across the Deep South and Southern Plains from Wednesday into the upcoming weekend. Some areas of Georgia and the Carolinas are forecast to receive 2-4 inches of rain by Sunday, which could help improve the pockets of moderate and severe drought. Cooler weather associated with the cold front won't arrive for Southern areas until Thursday or Friday. By this weekend, temperatures could be up to 8 degrees Fahrenheit below normal in the Southern Plains."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	41	24	40	32
Corn Dough	8	3	6	4
Soybeans Blooming	51	34	51	44
Soybeans Setting Pods	18	9	17	12
Winter Wheat Harvested	71	63	53	62
Spring Wheat Headed	76	59	82	78
Cotton Squaring	64	52	61	63
Cotton Setting Bolls	27	19	23	22
Sorghum Headed	29	23	28	28
Sorghum Coloring	16	13	16	16
Oats Headed	91	83	91	90
Oats Harvested	16	NA	11	12
Barley Headed	76	56	72	76
Rice Headed	44	31	34	27

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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	6	23	52	16		4	9	30	46	11
Soybeans	2	6	24	56	12		2	6	24	55	13		4	9	32	47	8
Spring Wheat	-	3	20	67	10		1	3	21	65	10		3	11	35	48	3
Sorghum	3	8	32	44	13		3	7	31	46	13		3	7	32	47	11
Cotton	11	12	32	37	8		10	13	32	37	8		12	16	27	38	7
Rice	-	2	18	63	17		1	2	16	64	17		1	4	22	57	16
Oat	6	5	23	56	10		6	5	22	56	11		7	9	40	41	3
Barley	-	3	23	69	5		-	3	27	64	6		2	9	37	45	7