USDA Crop Progress: Corn Rated 63% Good to Excellent; Soybeans 63% Good to Excellent as of July 26

This article was originally published at 3:04 p.m. CDT on Monday, July 27. It was last updated with additional information at 3:47 p.m. CDT on Monday, July 27.

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OMAHA (DTN) — Crop conditions weakened last week as good-to-excellent ratings for both corn and soybeans fell 3 percentage points, according to USDA NASS’s weekly Crop Progress report released Monday.

Although it was cooler for most of last week, many areas remain in need of rain as hot temperatures, scattered showers and continued dryness are expected through early August, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

CORN

— Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 78%, 5 percentage points ahead of last year’s 73% and 4 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 74%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 25%, 1 percentage point ahead of last year’s 24% and 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 22%.

— Crop condition: NASS estimated that 63% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, 4 percentage points below the previous week of 67% and 10 percentage points below last year’s 73%. Twelve percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, 3 percentage points above the previous week’s 9% and 5 percentage points above the previous year’s 7%. Among the largest corn-producing states, Iowa posted the strongest good-to-excellent rating at 80%, followed by Indiana at 63% and Illinois at 59%.

SOYBEANS

— Crop development: Soybeans blooming was pegged at 80%, 6 percentage points ahead of both last year and the five-year average of 74%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 47%, 8 percentage points ahead of both last year and the five-year average of 39%.

— Crop condition: NASS estimated that 63% of soybeans that had emerged were in good-to-excellent condition, 3 points below the previous week of 66% and 7 points below the previous year of 70%. Soybean conditions varied across the Plains, with good-to-excellent ratings at 64% in Kansas, 61% in Nebraska and 52% in South Dakota.

WINTER WHEAT

— Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead 7 percentage points last week to reach 81% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 2 percentage points ahead of both last year and the five-year average of 79%. Winter wheat harvest was complete in Kansas and Oklahoma, while progress reached 92% in Nebraska and 82% in South Dakota.

SPRING WHEAT

— Crop development: Ninety-two percent of spring wheat was headed, 1 percentage point ahead of last year’s 91% and 1 percentage point behind the five-year average of 93%.

— Harvest progress: In its first spring wheat harvest report of the season, NASS estimated that just 2% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of last year’s 1% and steady with the five-year average. Most of the harvesting took place in South Dakota and Washington.

— Crop condition: NASS estimated that 53% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, steady with the previous week.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Cooler weather last week gave way to quite hot temperatures in the Plains, while scattered showers are expected this week but likely won’t provide the widespread rainfall crops need, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

“Although it was cooler for most of last week, it was also fairly dry and many areas are in need of rain,” Baranick said. “That is especially true after temperatures rose over the weekend and became quite hot in the Plains. That heat will be maintained there as long as precipitation doesn’t occur. A lot of 90s and some days over 100 degrees are on tap from the Canadian border down to Mexico. That could get interrupted by a front settling across Nebraska and Kansas this week. Periods of showers will be possible, but how widespread the precipitation will be is a bit unknown and will likely be lower than what crops need out that way.

“Farther east across the Mississippi River, the heat isn’t nearly as intense as farther west, though it will still be warm on Monday. That is ahead of a cold front that will drop down through the eastern half of the country Monday and Tuesday, stalling across Missouri into the Southeast for the rest of the week. We should see some scattered showers along the front, but the rainfall is not forecast to be widespread as it moves across the Midwest. Some areas will see needed rain; other areas will remain dry and there will be some winners and losers out of it. Another system should form off of the stalled front across the Central Plains on Thursday and push slowly southeast through the western Midwest into the Southeast for the weekend. More widespread showers will be possible here, but may not add up to the amounts we need to see to maintain good growing conditions.

“Yet another front will move across the north this weekend into next week, so chances for showers will still be possible going into August. Areas in the Northern Plains have been dealing with a lot of heat and very little precipitation, which could sour the overall good yield estimates for spring wheat that were noted in last week’s crop tour.”

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To view weekly crop progress reports issued by National Ag Statistics Service offices in individual states, visit http://www.nass.usda.gov/. Look for the U.S. map in the “Find Data and Reports by” section and choose the state you wish to view in the drop-down menu. Then look for that state’s “Crop Progress & Condition” report.

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Editor’s Note: How are your crops looking? Are they better, worse or right on track with USDA NASS’ observations this week? Send us your comments, and we’ll include them in next week’s Crop Progress report story. You can email comments to talk@dtn.com. Please include the location of where you farm.

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EllaMae Reiff can be reached at ellamae.reiff@dtn.com

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