Corn

The majority of the corn crop has now emerged, staying slightly ahead of average pace at 96% vs. 94%. All of the corn in Minnesota and Missouri has come out of the soil, and corn in Iowa, Nebraska and Tennessee is 99% emerged. The two states with less than 90% of the corn crop emerging are Pennsylvania and Kentucky, both at 88% emerged.

Condition of the corn crop essentially stayed the same as last week at 75% good/excellent overall, but losing a point in good and gaining one point in the excellent category. The corn crops in North Dakota and Wisconsin look to be in the best condition, according to the report, at 86% and 85% good/excellent condition, respectively.

Soybeans

The overall soybean crop is getting closer to completion, with 92% of the crop in the ground. This is 5 points ahead of the 5-year average. Farmers in Minnesota have 100% of their soybeans planted, and farmers in Iowa, North Dakota and Wisconsin aren't far behind. Farmers in Kentucky and North Carolina have 67% of their soybeans planted; slightly behind average and ahead of average, respectively.

Soybean emergence made strong progress in the last week, going from 65% emerged last week to 79% this week, keeping emergence rates ahead of average by 7 points. Several states are close to seeing all of the planted soybeans out of the ground, including: Iowa (91% emerged), Louisiana (94%), Minnesota (96%) and Mississippi (90%).

Soybean condition improved over the past seven days, going from 72% good/excellent last week to 74% this week. While a small gain, it's always nice to see crop conditions improve, particularly when it goes from fair condition to excellent condition in this case. The soybean crop in Wisconsin is still tops, with 83% of the crop in good/excellent condition.