USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report - Corn Rated 71% Good to Excellent, Soybeans 68% Good to Excellent as of Aug. 17

OMAHA (DTN) -- The condition of the nation's corn crop declined slightly, while soybean conditions remained unchanged for the second week in a row, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.

NASS also reported that just 6% of winter wheat was left to harvest, while the spring wheat harvest was running 7 percentage points ahead of last year's pace.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 97%, consistent with last year's pace and 1 percentage point below the five-year average of 98%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 72%, equal to last year and 1 percentage point below the five-year average of 73%. Corn dented was estimated at 27%, 1 percentage point behind last year's 28% and 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 26%. Corn mature was pegged at 3%, 1 point behind last year's 4% and equal to the five-year average.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 71% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, 1 point behind the previous week and 4 points ahead of last year's 67%. Eight percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, 1 percentage point above the previous week's 7% and still below 11% from last year. "Iowa and Wisconsin are rated 86% and 82% good to excellent, respectively, with Nebraska at 77% good to excellent," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming were pegged at 95%, 1 point ahead of last year's 94% and consistent with the five-year average. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 82%, 2 points ahead of last year's 80% and equal to the five-year average.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 68% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week and previous year. Eight percent of soybeans were rated very poor to poor, 1 percentage point above the previous week's 7% and unchanged from the previous year. "Iowa and Wisconsin are each rated 82% good to excellent," Mantini said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest inched ahead 4 percentage points last week to reach 94% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 2 points behind last year's 96% and 1 point behind the five-year average of 95%. Harvest in Montana reached 65% complete, jumping 25 percentage points from 40% the previous week. Idaho and Washington are 72% and 78% complete.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest maintained a steady pace last week, moving ahead another 20 percentage points last week to reach 36% complete as of Sunday. That was 7 percentage points ahead of last year's pace of 29% and equal to the five-year average.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 50% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, up 1 percentage point from 49% the previous week and 23 points below last year's 73% good-to-excellent rating. Eighteen percent of spring wheat remains rated very poor to poor, unchanged from the previous week and 13 percentage points ahead of last year's 5%. "Montana is still the poorest rated at 5% good to excellent, with Minnesota at 80% and North Dakota rated 70% good to excellent," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

A cold front will come across the country late this week and weekend, bringing significant temperature drops that will make some northern areas feel like fall and ending the stressful heat elsewhere, with more rain possible next week for drier areas, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"Heat built in at the end of last week and rain was relegated mostly to a stalled front across northern areas, which meant that the southern Corn Belt did go through some tough weather last week," Baranick said.

"The northern front will be pushing through the Corn Belt down to the Southeast where it will stall later this week. It's a good thing it will as it will shield the country from the effects of Hurricane Erin, which will stay off the East Coast as it curves back out to sea this week. Showers along that front may be scattered and not hit everybody, but there could be some batches of heavy rain. Where they hit will be important for those areas that are more stressed.

"Another, more potent cold front will sweep across the country late this week and weekend. Precipitation along the front may not be all that impressive, but a significant drop in temperature is forecast behind it, which will make some northern areas feel like fall while erasing the stressful heat elsewhere. A morning low in the 30s can't be ruled out for the Red River Valley of the north this weekend, but frosts would be very difficult to accomplish in August anywhere in the U.S., so that is not really a threat. More rain is in the forecast for next week, which may fall upon those drier areas if the current forecast pans out."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Silking	97	94	97	98
Corn Dough	72	58	72	73
Corn Dented	27	14	28	26
Corn Mature	3	-	4	3
Soybeans Blooming	95	91	94	95
Soybeans Setting Pods	82	71	80	82
Winter Wheat Harvested	94	90	96	95
Spring Wheat Harvested	36	16	29	36
Cotton Squaring	97	93	98	98
Cotton Setting Bolls	73	65	83	80
Cotton Bolls Opening	13	8	18	16
Sorghum Headed	78	65	82	80
Sorghum Coloring	34	29	38	35
Sorghum Mature	18	-	18	19
Oats Harvested	69	55	66	70
Barley Harvested	37	18	28	40
Rice Headed	92	85	93	89
Rice Harvested	17	11	20	15
Peanuts Pegging	96	94	98	97

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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
Corn	2	6	21	50	21		2	5	21	52	20		4	7	22	51	16
Soybeans	2	6	24	53	15		2	5	25	53	15		2	6	24	54	14
Spring Wheat	4	14	32	45	5		5	13	33	44	5		1	4	22	61	12
Rice	-	3	22	55	20		-	3	21	54	22		1	3	17	64	15
Barley	3	14	39	42	2		3	14	40	41	2		1	8	22	64	5
Cotton	4	10	31	43	12		7	11	29	43	10		8	18	32	35	7
Peanuts	-	3	25	60	12		-	3	23	61	13		1	4	27	62	6
Sorghum	3	7	27	46	17		2	7	25	47	19		6	12	33	42	7