USDA Crop Progress - Corn Rated 67% Good to Excellent, Soybeans 68% Good to Excellent as of Aug. 11

OMAHA (DTN) -- Good-to-excellent ratings for both corn and soybeans were unchanged last week, continuing a season-long trend of ratings for both crops holding mostly stable at the national level, 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 continued to run slightly behind average last week.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 94%, 1 percentage point behind last year's 95% but equal to the five-year average. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 60%, equal to last year's pace but 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 56%. Corn dented was estimated at 18%, 3 points ahead of last year's 15% and 6 points ahead of the five-year average of 12%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 67% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week and still well ahead of last year's 59%. Ten percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, unchanged from the previous week and below 13% last year. "Major corn-producing states Illinois' and Iowa's crops are rated 77% good to excellent with Missouri leading the pack at 81% good to excellent," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming were pegged at 91%, 2 points behind last year's pace of 93% but 1 point ahead of the five-year average of 90%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 72%, 3 points behind last year's 75% but 2 points ahead of the five-year average of 70%. "North Dakota is lagging a bit, with just 56% of soybeans setting pods," Mantini noted.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, also unchanged from the previous week and still above last year's rating of 59% good to excellent. "Illinois' and Iowa's soybean crops are at 72% and 77% good to excellent, respectively, and Missouri's crop is rated at 77% good to excellent," Mantini said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead 5 percentage points to reach 93% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 2 points ahead of last year's 91% and 2 points ahead of the five-year average pace of 91%. Idaho is still trailing the pack at 48% done.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest jumped ahead 12 percentage points last week to reach 18% complete as of Sunday. That was 2 points behind last year's 20% and 3 points behind the five-year average of 21%. "South Dakota is 54% harvested and leads the pack," Mantini said.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 72% of the crop remaining in fields was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, down 2 points from 74% the previous week. That remains well ahead of last year's rating of 42% good to excellent. "Both North Dakota's and Minnesota's spring wheat crops are rated highly at 81% and 89% good to excellent, respectively," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Producers across most of the Corn Belt can look forward to favorable weather conditions this coming week, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick

"This looks like another good week of weather across most of the country but especially the Corn Belt," Baranick said. "Temperatures are mild, and we'll see a couple of disturbances bring showers through this week. There won't be many that miss out on the good conditions."

"Far Southern areas will stay hotter, though. Temperatures in Texas will creep above the century mark again, and others near the Gulf Coast will get well into the 90s. Wet areas in the Carolinas that got dumped on from Tropical Storm Debby last week will get some more unneeded rainfall this week as well.

"Those looking to do some harvest for spring wheat or other small grains in the Northern Plains may have to dodge some showers. But for most, and especially those with corn and soybeans in the Corn Belt, it looks like a good week of weather."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	94	88	95	94
Corn Dough	60	46	60	56
Corn Dented	18	7	15	12
Soybeans Blooming	91	86	93	90
Soybeans Setting Pods	72	59	75	70
Winter Wheat Harvested	93	88	91	91
Spring Wheat Harvested	18	6	20	21
Cotton Squaring	96	91	95	95
Cotton Setting Bolls	74	60	69	73
Cotton Bolls Opening	13	8	12	12
Sorghum Headed	73	63	68	68
Sorghum Coloring	32	25	29	28
Oats Harvested	57	45	57	59
Barley Harvested	18	7	25	25
Rice Headed	90	80	83	79
Rice Harvested	13	7	13	10

**

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	7	23	51	16		4	9	28	48	11
Soybeans	2	6	24	55	13		2	6	24	54	14		3	9	29	48	11
Spring Wheat	1	4	23	59	13		1	3	22	63	11		4	16	38	39	3
Sorghum	6	10	33	43	8		7	9	32	40	7		5	12	29	45	9
Cotton	9	16	29	39	7		12	15	28	37	8		19	24	21	30	6
Rice	1	3	17	61	18		1	2	17	63	17		1	5	27	51	16
Barley	-	6	25	62	7		-	6	22	66	6		1	8	37	48	6