USDA Crop Progress - Corn Rated 67% Good to Excellent, Soybeans 68% Good to Excellent as of Aug. 18

OMAHA (DTN) -- National good-to-excellent ratings for both corn and soybeans were unchanged for the second week in a row last week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday.

NASS also reported that just 4% of winter wheat was left to harvest, while the spring wheat harvest was running 5 percentage points behind average last week.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 97%, 1 percentage point behind both last year and the five-year average of 98%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 74%, equal to last year's pace but 3 points ahead of the five-year average of 71%. Corn dented was estimated at 30%, equal to last year but 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 26%. Corn mature was pegged at 5%, 2 points ahead of both last year and the five-year average. "North Dakota's corn crop is only 33% in dough," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 67% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged for the second week in a row and holding above last year's 58%. Eleven percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, up slightly from 10% the previous week but below 15% last year. "Illinois' and Iowa's corn crops are rated 76% and 77% good to excellent, respectively, while Missouri is at 79% good to excellent," Mantini said.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming were pegged at 95%, equal to both last year's pace and the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 81%, 3 points behind last year's 84% but 1 point ahead of the five-year average of 80%. "North Dakota's soybean crop is the laggard at just 64% setting pods -- 20 points below the average," Mantini said.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, also unchanged from the previous week for the second week in a row and still above last year's rating of 59% good to excellent. "Illinois and Iowa soybeans are rated at 70% and 77% good to excellent, respectively, while Missouri is 80% good to excellent," Mantini said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest inched ahead 3 percentage points to reach 96% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 1 point ahead of both last year and the five-year average pace of 95%. "Idaho and Montana are the laggards at 72% and 75% harvested, respectively," Mantini noted.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest maintained a steady pace last week, moving ahead another 13 percentage points to reach 31% complete as of Sunday. However, that was still 4 points behind last year's 35% and 5 points behind the five-year average of 36%. "North Dakota and Minnesota each lag the average at 21% and 31% done, respectively, while South Dakota leads the pack at 70% harvested," Mantini said.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 73% of the crop remaining in fields was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, up 1 point from 72% the previous week. That remains well ahead of last year's rating of 38% good to excellent. "Minnesota's and North Dakota's spring wheat crops are rated high, at 87% and 78% good to excellent, respectively," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Most of the Corn Belt will be cool and dry for much of this week, but hotter weather will begin to creep back into the Western Corn Belt by this weekend, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick

"It's going to be a relatively quiet week of weather in much of the primary growing areas of the country this week," Baranick said. "The Midwest, in particular, will be cool and dry for the vast majority of the week. But it continues to be hot in Texas. Triple-digit temperatures will remain the norm all week long. A ridge has built its way from Texas up into the Canadian Prairies and will stick there for the next several days. That heat also extends northward to some extent across the High Plains but will start to shift eastward on Friday into the Western Corn Belt as the ridge fills a vacated spot in the Midwest currently occupied by a trough that is bringing the cooler weather.

"While the ridge remains stagnant, it will block up the pattern, not allowing disturbances from a trough off the West Coast to move into the Corn Belt. However, the disturbances need to go somewhere, so instead will travel through the Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies, producing daily showers and thunderstorms there that may mess with grain quality and delay harvest in some areas.

"That blocked-up pattern for the Midwest will not be a terrible thing for this week, but if we don't get showers to move through next week as temperatures look to increase, we could see drops in crop conditions as corn and beans continue to fill."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	97	94	98	98
Corn Dough	74	60	74	71
Corn Dented	30	18	30	26
Corn Mature	5	NA	3	3
Soybeans Blooming	95	91	95	95
Soybeans Setting Pods	81	72	84	80
Winter Wheat Harvested	96	93	95	95
Spring Wheat Harvested	31	18	35	36
Cotton Setting Bolls	84	74	78	81
Cotton Bolls Opening	19	13	17	17
Sorghum Headed	83	73	78	80
Sorghum Coloring	39	32	36	35
Sorghum Mature	19	NA	18	19
Oats Harvested	67	57	67	70
Barley Harvested	30	18	43	43
Rice Headed	94	90	92	89
Rice Harvested	21	13	17	13

**

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	4	7	22	51	16		3	7	23	51	16		5	10	27	47	11
Soybeans	2	6	24	54	14		2	6	24	55	13		4	9	28	49	10
Spring Wheat	1	4	22	61	12		1	4	23	59	13		4	19	39	35	3
Sorghum	6	12	33	42	7		6	10	33	43	8		8	14	27	42	9
Cotton	8	18	32	35	7		9	16	29	39	7		22	24	21	27	6
Rice	1	3	17	64	15		1	3	17	61	18		1	4	27	52	16
Barley	1	8	22	64	5		-	6	25	62	7		2	10	39	44	5