Most crops still running behind.
CORN-For the 18 states that planted 91% of last year's crop, 2008 73% vs. '03-'07 average 88%.
RICE- For the 6 states that planted 100% of last year's crop, 2008 60% emerged vs. '03-07 average 74%.
SOYBEANS- For the 18 states that planted 95% of last years crop, 2008 27% vs '03-07 average 47%.
Winter WHEAT: 49% had headed vs. 66% trailing average.
Here's the 8 page PDF.
USDA Ag weather highlights:
In the West, cooler air is arriving along the immediate Pacific Coast, but hot weather continues elsewhere. Western heat continues to promote crop development and rapid melting of high-elevation snow packs.
• On the Plains, cool conditions—accompanied by isolated showers—are confined to North Dakota and eastern South Dakota. Elsewhere, very warm, dry weather favors winter wheat development and summer crop planting, emergence, and growth.
• In the Corn Belt, scattered rain showers are affecting areas from the Mississippi Valley westward. Meanwhile in the central and eastern Corn Belt, dry weather is promoting corn and soybean planting, although below-normal temperatures are slowing crop emergence and establishment. Scattered frost was reported this morning, mainly in Wisconsin and Michigan.
• In the South, beneficial showers dot Florida’s peninsula, where several wildfires are in various stages of containment. Elsewhere, warm, dry weather is promoting fieldwork and crop growth, although wetness in the Mid-South contrasts with lingering long-term drought in much of the Southeast.
Outlook: A highly amplified weather pattern featuring a Western ridge and a Northeastern trough will persist for a few more days. As a result, hot weather will continue across much of the West through Tuesday, although cooler air will gradually spread inland.
Meanwhile, chilly conditions—accompanied by scattered frost—will persist for much of the week in the Great Lakes and Northeastern States. By mid-week, much cooler air will trail a strong cold front into the West, while heat will shift into central and southern portions of the Rockies and Plains. During the mid- to late-week period, cool, showery weather will affect much of the West,
excluding California, which will be cool and dry.
Meanwhile, heavy showers and locally severe thunderstorms will develop across the High Plains and along the Gulf Coast, while favorably dry weather will prevail in the Midwest.
The NWS 6- to 10-day outlook for May 24-28 calls for the likelihood of wet weather across the nation’s mid-section, while drier-than-normal conditions will prevail in both the East Coast and West Coast States. Meanwhile, cooler-than-normal weather across the northern High Plains and the West will contrast with above-normal temperatures in most areas east of a line from Texas to the upper Mississippi Valley.
