Nebraska corn 70 percent dented

Seventy percent of Nebraska corn is dented, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. That's 20 points ahead of last year and 6 points ahead of the five-year average.

The national figure of 73 percent dented is more than double last year’s progress of 30 percent dented at this time. It's also well ahead of the five-year average of 55 percent dented.

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USDA said 98 percent of Nebraska's crop is in the dough stage – 5 points ahead of average. It also noted that 2 percent of the crop is mature, which is up from 1 percent last year but behind the five-year average of 4 percent. However, This figure will change rapidly over the next couple of weeks since denting is so far along.

At the same time, the state’s crop condition remains simply outstanding with 81 percent of the corn crop in good to excellent condition, with 14 percent fair and only 5 percent poor to very poor. A year ago 76 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent. All signs continue to point to solid yields and a great corn crop in Nebraska – and harvest data will soon be upon us. For more, click here to view the Nebraska Corn Board's crop progress update.

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Nationally, 94 percent of the crop is in dough stage, up from 73 percent last year and 86 percent for the five-year average, while 17 percent of the crop is mature, up from 5 percent last year and up from the 11 percent average.

USDA said 70 percent of the crop nationwide is in good to excellent condition, the same as last week and 1 point ahead of last year. USDA will start including harvest numbers in next week's crop progress update.

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This week's photos, from the Nebraska Corn Board's crop progress set on Flickr, feature photos submitted by the Holdredge FFA Chapter (top), Howells Clarkson FFA Chapter (middle), and the Sumner Eddyville Miller FFA Chapter (bottom).

The top photo shows an ear of corn anyone would be happy to harvest. The middle photo shows the extensive root structure of one plant – note that last year's stubble is under this year's plant. Below that is the scene of a field just a couple of weeks away from harvest.