This article was originally published at 3:06 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 21. It was last updated with additional information at 3:52 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 21.

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

Winter wheat conditions declined again slightly last week, NASS reported.

CORN

-- Planting progress: 12% of corn was planted nationwide as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of 11% last year and 2 points ahead of the five-year average of 10%. Iowa was the furthest ahead of average, at 18% complete as of Sunday, 11 points ahead of its average pace of 7%. That was followed by Kansas at 27%, 9 points ahead of the average pace of 18%. Texas was also ahead of average at 69% complete compared to the state's five-year average of 66%. Illinois and Indiana were both behind average at 7% and 2% planted, respectively.

-- Crop development: 2% of corn was emerged as of Sunday, 1 point behind last year but equal to the five-year average.

SOYBEANS

-- Planting progress: An estimated 8% of intended soybean acreage was planted as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of last year's 7% at this time and 3 points ahead of the five-year average of 5%.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Crop condition: An estimated 45% of winter wheat was rated good to excellent as of April 20, down 2 points from 47% the previous week and below 50% at the same time last year, according to NASS.

-- Crop development: 15% of winter wheat was headed nationwide as of Sunday. That's 1 percentage point behind last year's 16% but 2 points ahead of the five-year average. Top winter-wheat-producer Kansas' crop was 6% headed, 3 points ahead of last year at this time and 5 points ahead of the five-year average.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Planting progress: 17% of the crop was planted nationwide as of April 20, 3 points ahead of last year's 14% and 5 points ahead of 12% for the five-year average.

-- Crop development: 2% of spring wheat was emerged as of Sunday, equal to both last year and five-year average.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Periods of rain throughout the week could slow planting progress in some parts of the country but will benefit the emerging winter wheat crop, according to DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

"A lot of active weather has been going on around the country lately," Baranick said. "Areas of heavy rain and severe weather have produced some planting delays across the south, but rainfall farther north should have eased drought a bit, especially for those in the Great Lakes.

"This week looks to be another active one. Several systems will move through, and their fronts will get hung up in places across the country as well. That should lead to a busy week of showers. The good news is that overall, rainfall amounts do not appear to be too heavy for too many areas, though thunderstorms can bring locally heavy rainfall. Instead, areas in the Plains that have winter crops should enjoy a boost in moisture for developing wheat while trying to ease some of the drought. We could see slower planting paces for some of these areas though, too.

"It's still a little cool across the north with soil temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but those have been increasing, even with temperatures sticking closer to normal. As long as it's not too wet, we could see more farmers getting out and moving between showers."

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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	12	4	11	10
Corn Emerged	2	NA	3	2
Soybeans Planted	8	2	7	5
Winter Wheat Headed	15	8	16	13
Spring Wheat Planted	17	7	14	12
Spring Wheat Emerged	2	NA	2	2
Cotton Planted	11	5	11	11
Sorghum Planted	17	15	17	17
Oats Planted	53	41	50	44
Oats Emerged	31	27	34	29
Barley Planted	26	13	22	19
Barley Emerged	3	NA	2	3
Rice Planted	48	32	57	39
Rice Emerged	28	18	31	22

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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
Winter Wheat	6	15	34	38	7		5	14	34	41	6		5	11	34	43	7

Anthony Greder can be reached at anthony.greder@dtn.com

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