This article was originally published at 3:03 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 13. It was last updated with additional information at 3:51 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 13.

**

OMAHA (DTN) -- U.S. corn planting was slightly ahead of last year's pace and the five-year average as of Sunday, April 12, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.

Winter wheat conditions also declined slightly last week, with the crop rated 34% good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from the previous week and 13 percentage points from 47% a year ago amid widespread drought in the Central and Southern Plains, noted DTN Senior Analyst Dana Mantini.

CORN

-- Planting progress: 5% of corn was planted nationwide as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of 4% last year and equal to the five-year average. Texas is leading the way at 63%, followed by Tennessee and North Carolina at 42% and 29%, Mantini said.

SOYBEANS

-- Planting progress: An estimated 6% of intended soybean acreage was planted as of Sunday, 4 points ahead of last year at this time and equal to the five-year average of 2%. Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi are at the top, ranging from 30% to 39% planted, Mantini said.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Crop condition: An estimated 32% of winter wheat was rated poor to very poor as of April 12, up 13 percentage points from 19% a year ago, according to NASS. Kansas, No. 1 winter-wheat-producer, is rated 32% good to excellent, while Nebraska and Oklahoma are among the worst-rated states at 14% and 10% good to excellent, respectively, Mantini said. Washington and Idaho are highly rated at 92% and 86% good to excellent, respectively, with soft red winter wheat state Illinois at 67% good to excellent.

-- Crop development: 11% of winter wheat was headed nationwide as of Sunday. That's 3 percentage points ahead of last year's 8% and 4 points ahead of the five-year average of 7%.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 6% of the crop was planted nationwide as of April 12, equal to last year's pace but 1 percentage point behind the five-year average of 7%. Western states Washington and Idaho lead the pack at 36% and 32% planted, respectively.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

An active weather pattern will impact much of the country this week, with frequent showers and thunderstorms in some areas and worsening drought in others, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"This week will be another busy week for weather, which may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the location," Baranick said.

"Multiple storm systems will move through the Plains and Midwest this week, bringing daily showers and thunderstorms throughout the week. The highest amounts and coverage are focused on the Great Lakes states this week, which will increase soil moisture, but could cause some areas of flooding and severe weather as well. Across Texas and Oklahoma, rainfall will be more beneficial for reducing drought and increasing soil moisture for wheat and newly-planted summer crops.

"However, the pattern will not be favorable for some key areas of the country. Particularly in the central High Plains of western Nebraska, western Kansas, and eastern Colorado, little to no precipitation is expected. These areas got some streaks of precipitation late last week and weekend, but will get very little this week, causing drought to increase. The Delta region may get intermittent showers this week, but will see lower-than-normal amounts and the drought continues to be worse in the Southeast, where it should be largely dry. Even a cold front that sweeps through this weekend will have waning showers across the South and Southeast; not a great situation to be in for these areas.

"Behind that front, temperatures will take a sharp dive and we're likely to see frosts and freezes show up for at least the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, but could spread farther south depending on how strong that system is that brings the cold front through. We may even see some accumulating snow across the north should the system be sufficiently strong."

**

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.

**

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	5	3	4	4
Soybeans Planted	6	NA	2	2
Winter Wheat Headed	11	7	8	7
Spring Wheat Planted	6	2	6	7
Cotton Planted	7	5	5	7
Sorghum Planted	13	12	15	14
Oats Planted	36	28	40	36
Oats Emerged	24	23	27	26
Barley Planted	13	5	12	10
Rice Planted	42	30	31	28
Rice Emerged	23	13	17	15
Sugarbeets Planted	9	3	10	9
Peanuts Planted	1	NA	1	1

**

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
Winter Wheat	12	20	34	29	5		12	19	34	29	6		5	14	34	41	6

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

Follow her on social platform X @ellareiff

(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.