USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report - Corn Rated 72% Good to Excellent, Soybeans 68% Good to Excellent as of Aug. 10

OMAHA (DTN) -- Corn and soybean good-to-excellent condition ratings slightly declined at the national level last week, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.

While flooding, severe weather and patchy dryness concerns have created some challenges, crop conditions remain favorable for this time of year as a front brings rain to spots that have started to get dry again and temperatures will increase above normal, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 94%, 1 percentage point ahead of last year's 93% and 1 percentage point below the five-year average of 95%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 58%, equal to last year and the five-year average. Corn dented was estimated at 14%, 2 percentage points behind last year's 16% and 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 13%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 72% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, 1 point behind from the previous week and 5 points ahead of last year's 67%. Seven percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, unchanged from the previous week and still below 10% last year. "Iowa and Wisconsin are rated at 86% and 81%, respectively," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming were pegged at 91%, 1 point ahead of last year's 90% and 1 point below the five-year average of 92%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 71%, 1 point ahead of last year's 70% and 1 point behind the five-year average of 72%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 percentage point from 69% the previous week and consistent with last year. Seven percent of soybeans were rated very poor to poor, unchanged from the previous week and 1 percentage point below last year's 8%. "Louisiana is 92%, while Iowa and Wisconsin are each rated 81% good to excellent," Mantini said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead another 4 percentage points last week to reach 90% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 2 points behind last year's 92% and 1 point behind the five-year average of 91%. Harvest in Montana reached 40% complete, jumping 10 percentage points from 30% the previous week. Idaho and Washington are 50% and 69% complete.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest jumped ahead 11 percentage points last week to reach 16% complete as of Sunday. That was equal to last year's pace and 6 points behind the five-year average of 22%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 49% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, up 1 percentage point from 48% the previous week and 23 points below last year's 72% good-to-excellent rating. "State-by-state results still show Montana and Washington as the worst-rated at 4% and 14% good to excellent, respectively, while Minnesota is 82% good to excellent," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Despite concerns over flooding, severe weather and scattered dry conditions, crops remain in good shape for this time of year as a slow-moving front brings rain to spots that have started to get dry again, though temperatures will increase above normal, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"Some areas of flooding and severe weather have been a concern, as have patchy areas of dryness, but overall, the crop is still looking good for this time of year and the weather is helping more than hurting right now," Baranick said. "A slow-moving cold front has dropped a ton of rain from the Central Plains to the Upper Midwest over the weekend. Some severe weather and flooding have been noted, but we probably won't see any crop impacts until next week's report, if at all.

"That front will slowly move southeast through the country for the front half of the week, bringing areas of rain to spots that have started to get dry again like Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. But that won't be the only time we get a system to move in. We'll have another front moving into the Northern Plains on Wednesday that will stick around the North-Central states into the weekend before pushing eastward next week with more widespread rain. Ahead of that front, temperatures will increase above normal, and we'll get 90s for highs again in parts of the Eastern Corn Belt. For any areas that don't see rain this week, that could be a concern heading into next week's report."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	94	88	93	95
Corn Dough	58	42	58	58
Corn Dented	14	6	16	13
Soybeans Blooming	91	85	90	92
Soybeans Setting Pods	71	58	70	72
Winter Wheat Harvested	90	86	92	91
Spring Wheat Harvested	16	5	16	22
Cotton Squaring	93	87	95	94
Cotton Setting Bolls	65	55	72	71
Cotton Bolls Opening	8	5	12	10
Sorghum Headed	65	51	72	68
Sorghum Coloring	29	23	31	28
Oats Harvested	55	41	56	59
Barley Headed	98	90	100	100
Barley Harvested	18	5	16	24
Rice Headed	85	75	89	80
Rice Harvested	11	6	12	10
Peanuts Pegging	94	92	95	94

**

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	2	5	21	52	20		2	5	20	53	20		3	7	23	51	16
Soybeans	2	5	25	53	15		2	5	24	54	15		2	6	24	55	13
Spring Wheat	5	13	33	44	5		4	13	35	43	5		1	4	23	59	13
Rice	-	3	21	54	22		-	2	20	55	23		1	3	17	61	18
Oats	8	10	24	49	9		8	10	24	49	9		6	5	22	56	11
Barley	3	14	40	41	2		2	14	42	39	3		-	6	25	62	7
Cotton	7	11	29	43	10		5	10	30	45	10		9	16	29	39	7
Peanuts	-	3	23	61	13		-	3	24	62	11		1	5	26	60	8
Sorghum	2	7	25	47	19		2	6	26	48	18		6	10	33	43	8