This article was originally published at 3:04 p.m. CDT on Monday, Aug. 3. It was last updated with additional information at 3:42 p.m. CDT on Monday, Aug. 3.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Corn condition ratings continued to decline for a second consecutive week as good-to-excellent ratings fell, while soybean ratings held steady, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released Monday.

A slow-moving cold front will bring rainfall and cooler temperatures to parts of the Corn Belt this week, while hot and most dry conditions persist across the Plains and Mississippi Delta, according to DTN Meteorologist Teresa Wells.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn silking was pegged at 90%, 4 percentage points ahead of last year's 86% and 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 87%. Corn in the dough stage was estimated at 43%, 3 percentage points ahead of last year's 40% and 5 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 38%. Corn dented was estimated at 6%, 1 percentage point ahead of both last year and the five-year average of 5%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 61% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, 2 percentage points below the previous week of 63% and 12 percentage points below last year's 73%. Fourteen percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, 2 percentage points above the previous week's 12% and 7 percentage points above the previous year's 7%. DTN Lead Analyst Rhett Montgomery noted that the national very-poor-to-poor rating was the highest for the last week of July in three years. North Dakota led all states in condition declines, dropping 13 percentage points in good-to-excellent ratings and adding 12 percentage points to very poor to poor in the most recent week, he said.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans blooming was pegged at 88%, 4 percentage points ahead of both last year and the five-year average of 84%. Soybeans setting pods were estimated at 62%, 6 percentage points ahead of last year's 56% and 7 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 55%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 63% of soybeans that had emerged were in good-to-excellent condition, steady with the previous week and 6 points below the previous year's 69%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Harvest moved ahead 5 percentage points last week to reach 86% complete nationwide as of Sunday. That was 1 percentage point ahead of last year's 85% and steady with the five-year average.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Crop development: Ninety-eight percent of spring wheat was headed, 3 percentage points ahead of last year's 95% and 1 percentage point ahead of the five-year average of 97%.

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest jumped ahead 3 percentage points last week to reach 5% complete as of Sunday. That was 1 percentage point ahead of last year's pace of 4% and 3 percentage points behind the five-year average of 8%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 55% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition nationwide, up 2 percentage points from the previous week's 53%. "Despite concerning dryness in the Northern Plains through July, spring wheat conditions have reversed, especially in Montana where the percent of the crop rated as good to excellent moved 12 points higher in the most recent week," Montgomery said.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

The Corn Belt will see cooler temperatures and scattered rainfall this week, while the Plains and Delta remain mostly dry with drought conditions continuing, according to DTN Meteorologist Teresa Wells.

"One of the main features we're watching this week is a cold front moving from west to east across the Corn Belt," Wells said. "This will be a relatively slow-moving front, bringing rainfall to Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois Monday through Wednesday. By Thursday and Friday, most of the rain will target southern Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Rain will be heaviest across central Iowa, southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois where rainfall could approach 1-2 inches this week. Cooler temperatures will also develop behind the cold front, giving the Midwest a break in the recent heat. High temperatures will be closer to the 70s and 80s.

"Across the Mississippi Delta and Southern Plains, conditions will be largely dry through the first half of the week before spotty showers and storms develop later Wednesday into Thursday. Unfortunately, showers look relatively light, with amounts generally remaining below 1 inch for most of these regions. Temperatures will be hovering right around average with highs in the 90s to 100s. Lighter rainfall amounts and hot temperatures will likely lend to little improvement in drought.

"Looking ahead to this weekend and next week, the storm pattern still favors the northern Corn Belt with heat returning to much of the Plains and Mississippi Valley. This week's cooler temperatures in the North will be short lived with highs returning to the 80s and 90s next week."

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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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National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn silking	90	78	86	87
Corn dough	43	25	40	38
Corn dent	6	NA	5	5
Soybeans blooming	88	80	84	84
Soybeans setting pods	62	47	56	55
Winter wheat harvested	86	81	85	86
Spring wheat headed	98	92	95	97
Spring wheat harvest	5	2	4	8
Cotton squaring	88	81	86	88
Cotton setting bolls	55	45	53	56
Cotton bolls opening	4	NA	5	6
Sorghum headed	52	40	49	53
Sorghum coloring	28	22	23	23
Oats harvested	48	34	39	42
Barley headed	98	93	89	96
Barley harvested	7	2	4	9
Rice headed	77	67	73	67
Rice harvested	9	NA	5	5
Peanuts pegging	90	84	91	90

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National Crop Condition Summary
(VP=Very Poor; P=Poor; F=Fair; G=Good; E=Excellent)
	VP	P	F	G	E
Corn
This Week	4	10	25	48	13
Prev Week	3	9	25	50	13
Prev Year	2	5	20	53	20
DTN 5-Yr Avg	5	10	26	46	13
Soybeans
This Week	2	7	28	52	11
Prev Week	2	7	28	52	11
Prev Year	2	5	24	54	15
DTN 5-Yr Avg	4	10	28	47	11
Spring Wheat
This Week	2	10	33	48	7
Prev Week	3	12	32	46	7
Prev Year	4	13	35	43	5
DTN 5-Yr Avg	8	16	29	40	7
Rice
This Week	0	4	25	56	15
Prev Week	0	3	26	56	15
Prev Year	0	2	20	55	23
DTN 5-Yr Avg	1	3	22	58	17
Oats
This Week	8	16	29	41	6
Prev Week	8	15	29	41	7
Prev Year	8	10	24	49	9
DTN 5-Yr Avg	7	9	30	48	6
Barley
This Week	2	8	44	38	8
Prev Week	2	7	39	46	6
Prev Year	2	14	42	39	3
DTN 5-Yr Avg	1	7	39	48	4
Peanuts
This Week	1	6	29	55	9
Prev Week	1	5	30	56	8
Prev Year	0	3	24	62	11
DTN 5-Yr Avg	2	8	32	51	7
Cotton
This Week	5	15	38	34	8
Prev Week	3	13	38	37	9
Prev Year	5	10	30	45	10
DTN 5-Yr Avg	12	17	30	34	6

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

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