USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report - Corn 81% Harvested, Soybeans 92% Harvested as of Nov. 8

OMAHA (DTN) -- Favorable fieldwork conditions early in the week should help farmers make additional harvest progress before scattered showers and a brief blast of colder temperatures move across the eastern half of the country later in the week. The nation's corn harvest remains behind its five-year average, while soybeans are slightly ahead, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.

CORN

-- Harvest progress: NASS estimated that 81% of corn had been harvested nationally as of Nov. 8, 5 percentage points behind the five-year average of 86%. DTN Lead Analyst Rhett Montgomery said top-producing Iowa is still playing catch-up following a rainy start to the season, with 72% of its crop harvested compared to the five-year average of 89%.

SOYBEANS

-- Harvest progress: NASS estimated that 92% of soybeans had been harvested as of Sunday, 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 91%. Iowa was at 93%, 2 percentage points behind its five-year average of 95%, while Nebraska was 90%, compared to its average of 93%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Planting progress: Winter wheat planting was estimated at 89% complete nationally, 1 percentage point behind the five-year average of 90%.

-- Crop development: Winter wheat emerged was estimated at 76%, 2 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 74%.

-- Crop condition: An estimated 49% of winter wheat that had emerged was in good-to-excellent condition, up 5 percentage points from 44% the previous week. That is 12 percentage points above the five-year average rating of 37% good to excellent. Sixteen percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, a 2-percentage-point improvement from 18% the previous week. Montgomery said recent rainfall across the U.S. Southern Plains has helped improve winter wheat conditions, with ratings jumping considerably in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas over the past week. Indiana was the only state to report declining winter wheat conditions week over week.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

A brief period of colder weather, including lake-effect showers around the Great Lakes, is expected later this week before warmer temperatures return, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"The early portion of the week is certainly favorable for fieldwork," Baranick said. "There are some showers down in Texas that might help some with their winter wheat, but overall, harvest should be progressing rather nicely. However, we will see an abrupt change for the eastern half of the country later this week. Several disturbances and systems will all combine to move across Wednesday through Friday. Scattered showers will occur, but it's the colder temperatures moving in that are getting the most attention. The cold air moving over the Great Lakes will cause lake-effect showers to continue into the weekend as well. That could be a mix of rain and snow. The cold will be relatively brief, though, with warmer temperatures in the West spreading back east this weekend into early next week."

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn harvested	81	74	NA	86
Soybeans harvested	92	88	NA	91
Winter wheat planted	89	83	NA	90
Winter wheat emerged	76	65	NA	74
Cotton bolls opening	94	92	NA	98
Cotton harvested	71	63	NA	63
Sorghum harvested	70	64	NA	85
Sugarbeets harvested	90	86	NA	94
Sunflowers harvested	74	61	NA	71
Peanuts harvested	77	66	NA	81

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National Crop Condition Summary
(VP=Very Poor; P=Poor; F=Fair; G=Good; E=Excellent)
	VP	P	F	G	E
Winter Wheat
This Week	4	12	35	41	8
Prev Week	5	13	38	38	6
Prev Year	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
DTN 5-Yr Avg	14	18	31	32	6