This article was originally published at 3:04 p.m. CDT on Monday, June 1. It was last updated with additional information at 4:12 p.m. CDT on Monday, June 1.
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OMAHA (DTN) -- The U.S. corn crop is rated 67% good to excellent and the soybean crop 66% good to excellent in their first condition ratings of the year, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.
Planting progress and crop development also remain slightly ahead of the five-year averages for both corn and soybeans nationwide, NASS reported.
CORN
-- Planting progress: 93% of corn was planted nationwide as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of last year's pace and the five-year average of 92%. Corn planting reached 97% complete in Iowa and Nebraska, 91% in Illinois and 85% in Indiana.
-- Crop development: 76% of corn had emerged as of Sunday, steady with last year's pace and 2 points ahead of the five-year average of 74%.
-- Crop condition: In its first condition rating of the season for corn, NASS estimated that 67% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition. Only 5% of the crop was rated very poor to poor. Iowa's corn crop was rated 82% good to excellent compared to 65% in Illinois.
SOYBEANS
-- Planting progress: An estimated 87% of intended soybean acreage was planted as of Sunday, 4 points ahead of last year at this time and 7 points ahead of the five-year average of 80%. Indiana, Illinois and Iowa range from 82% to 95% planted as of Sunday.
-- Crop development: 65% of soybeans had emerged as of Sunday, 4 points ahead of last year's pace and 8 points ahead of the five-year average of 57%.
-- Crop condition: In its initial rating of this year's soybean crop, NASS estimated 66% of the soybeans that had emerged were in good-to-excellent condition and just 5% were very poor to poor.
WINTER WHEAT
-- Crop condition: An estimated 26% of winter wheat was rated poor to very poor as of May 31, steady with a week ago, according to NASS.
-- Harvest progress: 5% of the nation's winter wheat crop was harvested as of Sunday, 2 points ahead of last year and the five-year average of 3%. Texas' winter wheat harvest is at 23% complete, which is 1 point behind last year and the five-year average of 24%.
-- Crop development: 87% of winter wheat was headed nationwide as of Sunday. That's 5 percentage points ahead of last year's 82% and 8 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 79%. Top winter-wheat-producer Kansas' crop was 99% headed, 3 points ahead of last year at this time and 5 points ahead of the five-year average.
SPRING WHEAT
-- Planting progress: 94% of the crop was planted nationwide as of May 31, steady with last year's pace and 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 89%.
-- Crop development: 72% of spring wheat was emerged as of Sunday, 1 percentage point ahead of last year's pace of 71% and 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 67%.
-- Crop condition: In its first condition rating of the season for spring wheat, NASS estimated that 47% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide with 6% rated very poor to poor.
THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER
A good weather pattern is expected to bring widespread rain across much of the Plains and Midwest this week, benefitting crop development in some drier areas, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.
"Some areas of the country had some really good rainfall over the weekend, including a lot of drought areas in the Plains and Southeast," Baranick said. "A few got a little too much rain, inducing some flooding in Kansas and Missouri that may hold back some areas from good growth.
"A big system moved into Montana over the weekend and has stalled, bringing in some heavy rain. It will be producing scattered showers and thunderstorms up and down the Plains for the first half of the week. It will also mean some good storm chances in the really dry areas of Nebraska, western Kansas, and the Texas Panhandle. It will be too late for wheat but will help any summer crops. The system will move eastward through southern Canada for the second half of the week and drag a cold front through the Midwest, where it is looking like it will stall through the weekend, bringing more showers and thunderstorms and being widespread over some areas that are a little on the drier side, being more beneficial for development.
"Another system or two moving in behind it will continue showers across the Plains into the weekend as well. Overall, this is a good weather pattern for producing widespread rain for everywhere but the Southeast, which will get drier after Tuesday. However, they've had at least two weeks of really good rainfall so a few drier days wouldn't be so bad."
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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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