Nebraska corn in great condition, on schedule

In today's crop progress report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 82 percent of Nebraska's corn crop is in good to excellent condition. That's 2 points behind last week but well ahead of last year and still a very, very good number.

USDA said 13 percent of the crop is fair and 5 percent is poor to very poor.

Although none of the corn was silking yet, the five-year average is only 1 percent silking by this point. Look for that number to change in the next week, as corn in many parts of the state has shot up quickly in response to some heat and moisture.

Nationally, 72 percent of the crop is good to excellent - which is an increase of 2 points from last week. That leaves 21 percent in fair condition and 7 percent poor to very poor. Last year only 61 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent at this point.

This week's photo was provided to the Nebraska Corn Board by the Chase County FFA Chapter. This photo is a week old, so the corn canopy would be closed by now and the corn quite a bit taller.