Crop progress continued to lag last year and normal, with corn development slipping a bit further behind, while soybean development caught up.

USDA reported that 40% of the U.S. corn crop had reached the dough stage by Sunday, up from 24% a week earlier, but behind last year’s pace of 46% and the five-year average of 64%.

The deficit of 24 percentage points between the amount of corn doughing as of Sunday and the five-year average was 2 points wider than a week earlier.

USDA said that 72% of the soybean crop was setting pods as of Sunday, compared with 55% a week earlier, 73% last year and the five-year average of 85%.

The corn condition ratings slipped slightly for the top-two producing states of Iowa and Illinois, with the Iowa crop rated 77% good/excellent, down from 78% last week, and the Illinois crop rated 62%, down from 63% previously.

The biggest decline in corn crop conditions was in Indiana, where the good/excellent rating for the crop fell by 5 percentage points to 59%, while the largest improvement in conditions among top producing states came in Wisconsin, where the corn crop was rated 61% good, up from 55% a week earlier.

Soybean conditions held steady in Iowa and Illinois at 63% good/excellent and 77% good/excellent respectively.

The good/excellent rating of the Indiana soybean crop fell by 3 percentage points to 60%, while the largest improvement was in Wisconsin, where the crop was rated 66% good/excellent as of Sunday, up from 62% a week earlier.

Editor’s note: Richard Brock, Corn & Soybean Digest's marketing editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.