Corn: Acreage at or beyond silking reached 83 percent, 12 points behind last year and 8 points behind the 5-year average. Nearly one-fourth of the crop reached the silking stage during the week, with major development occurring in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Iowa’s corn development was well behind normal, with only 73 percent at or beyond silking, 20 points behind the 5-year average. Development was delayed in all States except Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Silking was complete in North Carolina, but was still ongoing elsewhere. Nationally, corn acreage was 17 percent at or beyond the dough stage, 20 points behind last year and 15 points behind the normal pace. No corn acreage had reached the dough stage in Minnesota and Wisconsin, but more than half had reached the dough stage in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Condition of the corn crop was rated 66 percent good to excellent, unchanged from a week ago.
Soybeans: Seventy-eight percent of the soybean acreage was at or beyond the blooming stage, 12 points behind last year and 10 points behind normal. Most of the soybean-producing areas received some moisture during the week, except Minnesota and Wisconsin. Portions of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois received 2 to 4 inches of rain, with some areas in Missouri receiving more than 4 inches. Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa were all 12 or more points behind the 5-year average pace for blooming. However, Missouri continued to lag the furthest behind, with only 48 percent blooming, compared with 71 percent last year and 75 percent for the 5-year average. All States lagged the normal pace except Michigan, North Carolina and Tennessee. Pod-setting had occurred on 37 percent of the nation’s soybean acreage, 27 points behind last year and 21 points behind normal. Pod-setting was delayed in all States except Michigan, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Condition of the crop was rated 63 percent good to excellent, up 1 point from last week.
Winter Wheat: Eighty-six percent of the winter wheat crop was harvested, 7 points behind last year and 6 points behind the 5-year average. Harvest was virtually complete in all States except Idaho, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington. In Montana, South Dakota, and Idaho, harvest progress was 46, 29 and 22 points behind normal, respectively.
Cotton: Acreage at or beyond the squaring stage reached 92 percent, 1 point behind last year and 3 points behind the 5-year average. Squaring was complete or nearly complete in all States except Oklahoma and Texas. The most rapid squaring advancement occurred in Oklahoma, where 13 percent of the acreage reached or exceeded squaring during the week. Sixty-seven percent of the cotton acreage was setting bolls, 2 points ahead of last year but 5 points behind the 5-year average. In Arizona and Oklahoma, boll-setting was delayed by 19 or more points. Elsewhere, progress ranged from 11 points behind normal in Kansas to 10 points ahead of normal in Missouri. Cotton bolls were opening on 8 percent of the nation’s cotton acreage. The most significant progress was in Texas, at 16 percent, and Arizona, at 10 percent. Cotton condition was rated 47 percent good to excellent nationally, unchanged from the previous week.
Sorghum: Fifty-one percent of the national sorghum crop reached heading by week’s end, 13 points behind last year and 9 points behind the 5-year average. Delays were evident in all States when compared with normal, except in Colorado and New Mexico, where heading was ahead of the 5-year average by 26 and 9 points, respectively. Coloring, at 30 percent nationally, was 5 points behind last year but 1 point ahead of the 5-year average. Development in Arkansas significantly lagged the 5-year average, while Colorado’s progress was 38 points ahead. In Louisiana, where coloring advanced 16 points during the week, progress was 14 points ahead of the normal pace. Nationally, 22 percent of the sorghum acreage had reached maturity, the same as last year but 3 points ahead of the 5-year average. Texas acreage was 56 percent mature and Louisiana acreage was 42 percent mature. Condition of the crop was rated 50 percent good to excellent, down 1 point from last week.
Rice: Rice acreage at or beyond the heading stage reached 39 percent, 22 points behind last year and 20 points behind the 5-year average. In Louisiana and Texas, 87 percent or more of the acreage was at or beyond heading. Development advanced 10 or more points during the week in all States except Louisiana. In the Delta, heading in Arkansas and Mississippi lagged 33 and 31 points behind the respective 5-year average paces. Rice condition was rated 71 percent good to excellent, an increase of 1 point when compared with the previous week.
Small Grains: Barley harvest was 8 percent complete, 24 points behind last season and 12 points behind the 5-year average. Barley harvest was underway in all States. In Washington, harvest was 15 percent complete by week’s end, 14 points behind last year and 8 points behind the 5-year average. In Minnesota, harvest was 5 percent complete, 48 points behind last year and 27 points behind the 5-year average. Barley condition was rated 53 percent good to excellent, 4 points lower than last week. Oat harvest was 34 percent complete, 28 points behind last year and 18 points behind the 5-year average. Texas harvest was complete, 3 points ahead of last year and 1 point ahead of the 5- year average. All other areas were behind the normal pace. Oat condition was rated 57 percent good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week. Spring wheat harvest was 6 percent complete, 17 points behind last year and 13 points behind the 5-year average. Washington led the way with 10 percent harvested, followed by South Dakota at 9 percent. However, those states trailed their respective 5-year averages by 16 and 47 points. Spring wheat condition was rated 56 percent good to excellent, 4 points below the previous week.
Other Crops: Peanut pegging reached 89 percent by week’s end, 4 points ahead of last year’s pace but 1 point behind the 5- year average. Development was within 6 points of normal in all States. Condition of the crop was rated 60 percent good to excellent, a 2 point decline from the previous week.
Source: USDA