This article was originally published at 3:03 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, May 27. It was last updated with additional information at 3:56 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, May 27.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- The condition of the U.S. corn crop is 68% good-to-excellent in its first condition rating of the year, according to USDA NASS' weekly Crop Progress report released on Tuesday. The report is normally released on Mondays but was delayed this week due to Memorial Day.

Planting progress and crop development also remain slightly ahead of the five-year averages for both corn and soybeans nationwide, NASS reported.

Winter wheat conditions decreased slightly last week by 2 points, NASS said.

Heavy rainfall has created contrasting conditions across growing regions, benefitting Nebraska, Kansas and the southwestern Plains while causing fieldwork challenges in the South, with drier weather expected for southern areas next week, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

CORN

-- Planting progress: 87% of corn was planted nationwide as of Sunday, 6 points ahead of 81% last year and 2 points ahead of the five-year average of 85%. "Top producing corn state Iowa remains ahead of average at 95% complete, while Illinois is 82% planted. Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska range from 94% to 97% done," noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

-- Crop development: 67% of corn had emerged as of Sunday, 12 points ahead of last year's 55% and 7 points ahead of the five-year average of 60%.

-- Crop condition: In its first condition rating of the season for corn, NASS estimated that 68% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition. Only 5% of the crop was rated very poor to poor.

SOYBEANS

-- Planting progress: Soybean planting managed to stay ahead of the average last week with 76% of the crop planted nationwide as of Sunday. That was 10 percentage points ahead of last year's pace of 66% and 8 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 68%. "Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska range from 91% to 92% done," Mantini said.

-- Crop development: 50% of soybeans had emerged as of Sunday, 13 points ahead of last year's 37% and 10 points ahead of the five-year average of 40%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Crop condition: 50% of the cop was rated in good-to-excellent condition as of May 25, down 2 points from 52% the previous week and up 2 points from the previous year of 48%. The percentage of the crop rated very poor to poor rose by 1 point from 18% the previous week to 19% last week.

-- Crop development: 75% of winter wheat was headed as of Sunday. That was 1 point below of 76% at this time last year and 5 points ahead of five-year average of 70%. Top winter-wheat-producer Kansas' crop was 93% headed, consistent with this time last year and 6 points ahead of the five-year average.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 87% of spring wheat was planted as of Sunday, consistent with this time last year and 7 points ahead of the five-year average of 80%. "Minnesota is 97% planted, South Dakota is 100% while North Dakota is 84% planted," Mantini said.

-- Crop development: 60% of spring wheat has emerged, 2 points ahead of 58% last year and 7 points ahead of the five-year average of 53%.

-- Crop condition: In its first condition rating of the season for spring wheat, NASS estimated that 45% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide with 18% rated very poor to poor. "Minnesota is 82% good-to-excellent, while North Dakota is just 37% good-to-excellent," Mantini said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Recent heavy rainfall brought much-needed moisture to parts of the country, benefiting some drought areas while causing planting and fieldwork challenges elsewhere, with a pattern shift expected to dry out southern regions next week, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"Heavy rain moved back into the Central and Southern Plains late last week and has since spread eastward through the South and Southeast," Baranick said. "That heavy rain has been good for some areas like Nebraska, Kansas and the southwestern Plains to increase soil moisture and reduce drought. But for others like eastern Oklahoma and Texas east through the Tennessee Valley, that rain has been unwelcomed and is leading to some issues for some folks including planting or the need to replant as well as disease pressure and delays to fieldwork.

"Another upper-level cutoff low, yes they've been frequent this spring, has moved out into the Midwest and we'll see isolated to scattered showers through the Corn Belt through about Friday, maybe Saturday in the far east, but amounts generally look light. Some moderate amounts may be possible for a few locations. But really, it's again across the South and Southeast that should get in on some more heavy rainfall and potential severe weather. As this low shifts off to the East Coast this weekend, we'll see a drying trend for those southern areas. A little disturbance may bring some isolated showers north to south through the middle of the country, but that will be it. Next week, we are looking to flip the pattern a bit and get the main storm track through northern zones while the south will have a chance to dry out."

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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.

National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn Planted	87	78	81	85
Corn Emerged	67	50	55	60
Soybeans Planted	76	66	66	68
Soybeans Emerged	50	34	37	40
Winter Wheat Headed	75	64	76	70
Spring Wheat Planted	87	82	87	80
Spring Wheat Emerged	60	45	58	53
Cotton Planted	52	40	57	56
Cotton Squaring	3	NA	4	4
Sorghum Planted	39	33	41	38
Oats Planted	94	91	92	90
Oats Emerged	81	71	76	75
Oats Headed	29	NA	28	25
Barley Planted	82	75	87	84
Barley Emerged	58	45	60	58
Rice Planted	93	87	95	93
Rice Emerged	82	73	82	77
Peanuts Planted	69	51	65	66
Sunflowers Planted	24	13	17	18

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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	1	4	27	56	12		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Winter Wheat	6	13	31	43	7		6	12	30	44	8		6	13	33	40	8
Spring Wheat	3	15	37	43	2		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Rice	1	2	17	65	15		1	2	18	51	28		1	2	17	65	15
Oats	6	8	35	44	7		7	8	35	43	7		4	5	25	58	8
Barley	2	11	44	42	1		NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		2	5	25	62	6

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

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