USDA Crop Progress - Corn 67% Good to Excellent, Soybeans 68% Good to Excellent as of Aug. 4

OMAHA (DTN) -- The condition of the nation's corn crop declined slightly last week, while soybean conditions improved 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 88%, 2 percentage points behind last year's 90% but even with the five-year average. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 46%, which is 2 points ahead of last year's 44% and 8 points ahead of the five-year average of 38%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 67% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 percentage point from the previous week and still well ahead of last year's 57%. Ten percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, up 1 point from 9% from the previous week and still below 14% last year.

"Illinois has the highest rating with corn crops now 81% good to excellent, followed by Iowa and Missouri at 77% each," said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming were pegged at 86%, 2 points behind last year's pace of 78% but 3 points ahead of the five-year average of 84%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 59%, 2 points behind last year's 61% but 3 points ahead of the five-year average of 56%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, up 1 point from 67% the previous week but still above last year's rating of 54% good to excellent. Higher good to excellent ratings in North Dakota, Mississippi, Illinois and Minnesota edged out declines in South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.

"After Louisiana's 83% good to excellent rating, Iowa is at 76% and Illinois is at 75%," Hultman said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead 6 percentage points to reach 88% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 1 point ahead of last year's 88% and 2 points ahead of the five-year average pace of 86%.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Crop development: 97% of spring wheat was headed, 1 percentage point behind last year's 98% and 2 points behind the five-year average of 99%.

-- Harvest progress: In its first spring wheat harvest report of the season, NASS estimated that 6% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, 5 points behind last year's 11% and 4 points behind the five-year average of 10%. USDA reported 39% of the harvest done in South Dakota and 21% of the harvest done in Washington. USDA also said 74% of the crop was rated good to excellent, the same as last week, Hultman said.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 74% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, the same as last week. That remains well ahead of last year's rating of 41% good to excellent.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

It's still hot this week, but a pair of fronts from the south moving through the Corn Belt will bring in much cooler air behind them, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"The first will get hung up from Kansas to the Ohio Valley, but the path of the second one is a little uncertain and actually depends on Hurricane Debby and its remnants," Baranick said. "If it interacts with the front, it could pull it all the way south through the Gulf Coast. If it doesn't, it likely gets held up from the Southern Plains to the Ohio or Tennessee Valley as well."

That could mean big differences in the temperature forecast for southern areas of the country this weekend into next week, Baranick said. "If that front doesn't go through though, temperatures will continue to be in the 100s in the Southern Plains into the weekend and near there in the Gulf Coast states. Temperatures north of the front will be much more comfortable, in the 70s to mid-80s. Some days may not break the 70-degree mark in the Northern Plains."

For its part, Debby will be a slow-mover through the Southeast this week, possibly emerging back offshore in the Atlantic off the coast of South Carolina and restrengthening.

"Even if it doesn't, the storm will be producing a large swath of heavy rain before exiting the Mid-Atlantic this weekend. Rainfalls from ten to 20 inches are forecast for northern Florida into the Carolinas. That could lead to flooding over areas that were just starting to recover from drought. North Carolina corn and beans would also be at risk of lodging with extended strong winds blowing the crop around in wet soils.

Back to the Corn Belt, precipitation continues along the first front from the Northern Plains to the Great Lakes through Tuesday but goes dry as it works southward. The second front should bring more rounds of showers and thunderstorms to the Northern and Central Plains into the Upper Midwest as well, but again looks to go dry as it moves southward.

"That leaves a lot of the southern Corn Belt drier. If the front gets stuck in the Central or Southern Plains, expect more rounds of showers to occur there into the weekend," Baranick said. "And we could see another storm system move through the Corn Belt late this weekend into early next week.

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	88	77	90	88
Corn Dough	46	30	44	38
Soybeans Blooming	86	77	88	84
Soybeans Setting Pods	59	44	61	56
Winter Wheat Harvested	88	82	87	86
Spring Wheat Headed	97	94	98	99
Spring Wheat Harvested	6	1	11	10
Cotton Squaring	91	87	90	91
Cotton Setting Bolls	60	54	58	59
Sorghum Headed	63	47	55	54
Sorghum Coloring	25	22	25	24
Oats Harvested	45	35	45	31
Barley Headed	97	89	98	99
Barley Harvested	7	2	13	11
Rice Headed	80	71	71	64

**

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	7	23	51	16		3	6	23	52	16		4	10	29	47	10
Soybeans	2	6	24	54	14		2	6	25	54	13		4	10	32	45	9
Spring Wheat	1	3	22	63	11		-	4	22	63	11		4	16	39	39	2
Sorghum	7	9	32	40	7		4	9	32	45	10		4	10	29	45	12
Cotton	12	15	28	37	8		9	13	29	40	9		13	21	25	35	6
Rice	1	2	17	63	17		1	2	14	65	18		1	3	25	54	17
Oat	6	5	22	56	11		6	5	23	54	12		8	11	37	40	4
Barley	-	6	22	66	6		-	5	26	62	7		2	8	40	46	4