USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report - Corn 57% Planted, Soybeans 49% Planted, Winter Wheat Rated 28% Good to Excellent as of May 10

OMAHA (DTN) -- Corn planting was over halfway finished by the end of last week, while soybean planting continued ahead of last year's pace and its five-year average, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.

Planting progress is expected to improve this week as temperatures rise and most areas turn drier, though drought conditions continue in parts of the Central Plains and Southeast, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

CORN

-- Planting progress: 57% of corn was planted nationwide as of Sunday, 2 points behind last year's pace of 59% and 5 points ahead of the five-year average of 52%. "Tennessee and Kentucky lead the pack at 92% and 87% planted," DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini said. "Major states Iowa and Illinois are 72% and 54% planted, respectively."

-- Crop development: 23% of corn had emerged as of Sunday, 3 points behind last year's 26% and 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 19%.

SOYBEANS

-- Planting progress: An estimated 49% of intended soybean acreage was planted as of Sunday, 4 points ahead of last year at this time and 13 points ahead of the five-year average of 36%. Soybean planting continues to progress quickly in Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, with Iowa and Illinois at 60% and 57% planted and ahead of average, Mantini said.

-- Crop development: 20% of soybeans had emerged as of Sunday, 4 points ahead of last year and 8 points ahead of the five-year average of 12%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Crop condition: An estimated 40% of winter wheat was rated poor to very poor as of May 10, up 22 percentage points from 18% a year ago, according to NASS.

-- Crop development: 61% of winter wheat was headed nationwide as of Sunday. That's 10 percentage points ahead of last year's 51% and 16 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 45%. Top winter-wheat-producer Kansas' crop was 86% headed, 19 points ahead of last year at this time and 37 points ahead of the five-year average.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 53% of the crop was planted nationwide as of May 10, 10 percentage points behind last year's pace of 63% and 2 percentage points ahead the five-year average of 51%. Washington is nearly finished at 94% complete, while North Dakota is the furthest behind at 42% planted, lagging last year's pace but still ahead of its five-year average.

-- Crop development: 23% of spring wheat was emerged as of Sunday, 2 percentage points behind last year's pace of 25% and 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 19%.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Planting weather is expected to improve across much of the Plains and Midwest this week with warmer temperatures and drier conditions, though a system arriving this weekend could slow progress, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"Though we got some nice precipitation across the Central Plains and Southeast last week, we still have a lot of drought on the Drought Monitor to deal with," Baranick said. "Long-term deficits are rather large despite some heavy rainfall in parts of the Southeast, so there isn't much subsoil moisture to rely on once the topsoil moisture is used up.

"Frosts across the north have been an issue for planting, and we had some frosts on Monday morning as well, but temperatures will be rising for the rest of the week. It may take until the end of the week to get to the eastern Great Lakes, but it's coming. Planters will be in full force this week as long as precipitation isn't too crazy.

"We will get some showers this week, but overall, most areas are going to be drier, which should help planting progress. We will see a little system moving through the Northern Plains on Monday and the Midwest on Tuesday and Wednesday. Showers do not look very intense. Another system will move mostly through the Canadian Prairies from Thursday through Saturday. The front to the system will bring showers down into the Plains and Midwest, but again, the coverage looks rather low.

"This weekend though, a system is setting up to work through the Northern Plains and into the Midwest. More widespread precipitation is likely and will continue southward along the cold front going into next week. That should be enough to cause a pause in planting progress, but may get some rain into those areas that need it as well. The Southeast will not be as lucky as after Monday it is looking rather dry there through the coming weekend, not helping with the drought situation. We may see some colder temperatures across the Canadian Prairies into the far northern Plains behind that system into early next week, but frosts risks are pretty low for as of the latest forecasts."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Planted	57	38	59	52
Corn Emerged	23	13	26	19
Soybeans Planted	49	33	45	36
Soybeans Emerged	20	13	16	12
Winter Wheat Headed	61	49	51	45
Spring Wheat Planted	53	32	63	51
Spring Wheat Emerged	23	10	25	19
Cotton Planted	29	21	27	28
Sorghum Planted	25	22	26	24
Oats Planted	76	63	80	73
Oats Emerged	50	43	57	52
Barley Planted	65	49	61	58
Barley Emerged	33	22	27	25
Rice Planted	84	79	79	77
Rice Emerged	69	61	63	57
Sugarbeets Planted	79	55	90	72
Peanuts Planted	25	13	32	30

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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	16	24	32	23	5		13	24	32	26	5		6	12	28	46	8
Rice	-	3	24	64	9		-	2	24	66	8		1	1	21	49	28