USDA Crop Progress - 9% of Corn, 6% of Soybeans Left to Harvest; Wheat Condition Up as of Nov. 3

OMAHA (DTN) -- Less than 10% of both the U.S. corn and soybean crops were left to harvest at the end of this past week, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. But with heavy rain falling over parts of the central U.S. over the past few days and more precipitation in the forecast, it could take a while for farmers to get the last of their crops out of fields.

CORN

-- Harvest progress: Corn harvest moved ahead 10 percentage points nationally last week to reach 91% complete as of Sunday, Nov. 3. That was 13 points ahead of last year's 78% and 16 points ahead of the five-year average of 52%. Illinois' and Minnesota's harvests were both 95% complete, Iowa was 92% complete, Missouri was 91% complete, Nebraska was 90% finished, Ohio and South Dakota were both 89% complete, and Indiana's harvest was 88% complete. Wisconsin's corn harvest was 81% complete.

SOYBEANS

-- Harvest progress: Soybean harvest moved ahead 5 percentage points to reach 94% complete as of Sunday. That was 5 points ahead of last year's 89% and 9 points ahead of the five-year average of 85%. Minnesota's soybean harvest was finished, while Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin were all 98% complete. Ohio was 96% complete, Illinois and Michigan were 95% complete and Indiana was 93% finished. Missouri's harvest was 86% complete.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Planting progress: Winter wheat planting moved ahead by another 7 points to reach 87% complete nationwide as of Sunday, 1 point behind last year's 88% and 2 points behind the five-year average of 89%. Kansas' crop was 94% planted, near the state's five-year average of 93%. Oklahoma's crop was 72% planted, 16 percentage points behind the state's five-year average of 88%. Texas' winter wheat was 76% planted, 4 points behind the state's five-year average of 80%. South Dakota's crop was 98% planted, 2 points behind the state's average.

-- Crop development: An estimated 66% of winter wheat had emerged as of Sunday, 6 points behind last year's 72% and 5 points behind the five-year average of 71%. Top winter wheat-producer Kansas' crop was 76% emerged, 3 points ahead of the state's average of 73%. Oklahoma's crop was only 47% emerged, 26 points behind the state's five-year average of 73%.

-- Crop condition: An estimated 41% of winter wheat that had emerged was in good-to-excellent condition, up 3 points from 38% the previous week. That continued to trail last year's rating of 50% good to excellent by 9 percentage points. Twenty-three percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, unchanged from the previous week. "Montana, Texas and Oklahoma winter wheat conditions are struggling, at 22%, 24% and 31% good to excellent, respectively," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

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THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Wet conditions from heavy rains the past few days and more precipitation in the forecast could make getting the last of corn and soybeans out of fields a challenge, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"Last week featured a bunch of rain for the middle of the country that slowed down the remaining harvest but missed some key winter wheat areas in the southwestern Plains," Baranick said. "Over the weekend, that really came to fruition with a ton of rain in the Southern Plains, where 4 to 6 inches of rain fell, and some areas of heavy rain soaked soils, causing some flooding. The system responsible continues early this week, moving from Oklahoma up through the Great Lakes through Tuesday. More widespread showers should include Colorado and western Kansas with some decent rainfall to moisten soils and further improve winter wheat conditions.

"And that won't be the only system. Another one going through the Pacific Northwest on Monday will move down the Rockies and into the Four Corners area by Wednesday, where it will sit for three days. There will be enough cold air around and in Colorado to produce some really heavy snowfall. Over a foot will be possible there. Parts of western Nebraska, western Kansas, and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles may see some snow as well. But the system promises to produce a bunch of precipitation for the southwestern Plains that missed out on the heavy stuff from the last week. That system will move northeast through the Plains and Midwest over the weekend with more widespread precipitation.

"Those near the Gulf Coast will also be watching a potential tropical storm move in this week. Forecasts are pretty widespread as to which areas may be affected, if any, but that just adds to the rainfall potential for this week. All told, widespread drought reduction, soil moisture increases, and winter wheat condition improvements are expected."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Harvested	91	81	78	75
Soybeans Harvested	94	89	89	85
Winter Wheat Planted	87	80	88	89
Winter Wheat Emerged	66	56	72	71
Cotton Harvested	63	52	55	54
Sorghum Harvested	85	75	83	82

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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
Winter Wheat	8	15	36	35	6		7	16	39	33	5		6	11	33	42