This article was originally posted at 3:08 p.m. CDT on Monday, Sept. 20. It was last updated at 3:49 p.m. CDT on Monday, Sept. 20.
**
OMAHA (DTN) -- While corn and soybeans are reaching maturity slightly ahead of normal this year, harvest of both crops so far is progressing at a close-to-average pace, USDA NASS' said in its weekly national Crop Progress report Monday.
In its first national soybean harvest report of the season, NASS estimated that 6% of the crop was harvested as of Sunday, Sept. 19, near 5% last year and equal to the five-year average.
"Most of the progress is in Southern states, but North Dakota soybeans are 11% harvested and Iowa is at 4%," said DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman.
For the rest of the crop, NASS estimated that 58% of soybeans were dropping leaves as of Sunday, 10 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 48%.
The condition of the soybean crop remaining in fields was pegged at 58% good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from 57% the previous week but down from 63% a year ago.
After trailing 1 percentage point behind normal the previous week, corn harvest edged 1 percentage point ahead of average last week, coming in at 10% as of Sunday compared to the five-year average of 9%.
"Corn harvest activity has picked up in the major producing states, with Illinois at 11% harvested and Iowa at 4%," Hultman said.
As with soybeans, corn continued to reach maturity ahead of normal last week. NASS estimated that 93% of corn was dented as of Sept. 19, up 4 percentage points from the five-year average of 89%. Fifty-seven percent of corn was rated mature, up 10 percentage points from the five-year average of 47%.
The condition of corn still in fields also rose last week, edging up 1 percentage point from 58% good to excellent as of Sunday, Sept. 12, to 59% good to excellent on Sunday, Sept. 19. That was down from 61% a year ago.
Winter wheat planting also continued slightly ahead of normal last week, with NASS estimating 21% of the crop had been planted as of Sunday, 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 18%. Winter wheat emerged was pegged at 3%, just 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 2%.
The following are some other highlights from this week's Crop Progress report:
Sorghum coloring was pegged at 92%, 4 percentage points ahead of the average. Sorghum mature was 51%, 5 percentage points ahead of average. Sorghum harvested was 25%, 3 percentage points behind average.
Cotton bolls opening was 48%, 5 percentage points behind the average. Cotton harvested was 9%, 2 percentage points behind the average. Cotton condition was rated 64% good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week.
Rice harvested was 51%, 5 percentage points behind the average pace.
**
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.
| National Crop Progress Summary |
| | This | Last | Last | 5-Year |
| | Week | Week | Year | Avg. |
| Corn Dented | 93 | 87 | 94 | 89 |
| Corn Mature | 57 | 37 | 56 | 47 |
| Corn Harvested | 10 | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| Soybeans Dropping Leaves | 58 | 38 | 56 | 48 |
| Soybeans Harvested | 6 | NA | 5 | 6 |
| Winter Wheat Planted | 21 | 12 | 19 | 18 |
| Winter Wheat Emerged | 3 | NA | 3 | 2 |
| Cotton Bolls Opening | 48 | 36 | 56 | 53 |
| Cotton Harvested | 9 | 5 | 10 | 11 |
| Sorghum Coloring | 92 | 83 | 91 | 88 |
| Sorghum Mature | 51 | 39 | 49 | 46 |
| Sorghum Harvested | 25 | 21 | 26 | 28 |
| Rice Harvested | 51 | 40 | 45 | 56 |
**
| 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 | 5 | 10 | 26 | 45 | 14 | | 5 | 10 | 27 | 44 | 14 | | 5 | 9 | 25 | 47 | 14 |
| Soybeans | 4 | 10 | 28 | 47 | 11 | | 4 | 10 | 29 | 45 | 12 | | 3 | 7 | 27 | 51 | 12 |
| Cotton | 1 | 7 | 28 | 51 | 13 | | 1 | 5 | 30 | 50 | 14 | | 9 | 18 | 28 | 35 | 10 |
| Sorghum | 4 | 11 | 29 | 46 | 10 | | 4 | 10 | 29 | 47 | 10 | | 5 | 11 | 33 | 40 | 11 |
| Rice | 1 | 2 | 21 | 61 | 15 | | 1 | 3 | 22 | 59 | 15 | | 1 | 4 | 21 | 56 | 18 |
Anthony Greder can be reached at [email protected]
(c) Copyright 2021 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.