17% of Nebraska corn in dough stage, 77% rated good to excellent

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 17 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop was in the dough stage as of July 31, which is 8 points below the 25 percent five-year average. Last year's crop was right at that average, with 25 percent in the dough stage by now.

Ear of corn silking - waiting to be pollinated from the tassel.

USDA said 89 percent of the state's crop was silking, 1 point behind the average and 5 points behind last year. In terms of development, last year's crop was simply well ahead of average by this point.

Nationally, 18 percent of the crop is in the dough stage, which is 5 points behind the average and 12 points behind last year. So while marginally behind average, keep in mind that last year's number was 18 points ahead of the 2009 crop — so corn development last year was very fast thanks to early planting and some early good weather.

While it is a bit early for much of a dented estimate, USDA did note that 4 percent of nation's corn crop crop was dented, off from the 5 percent average and 6 percent last year. In Nebraska, USDA said no corn was dented, but a year ago only 2 percent of the crop was dented, compared to the five-year average of 1 percent.

Corn kernels just starting to form.

As for crop conditions, USDA said 77 percent of the state's crop was rated good to excellent, with 16 percent average and 7 percent poor to very poor. Last year (Aug. 2, 2010), 84 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was rated good to excellent, with 11 percent as fair and only 5 percent poor or very poor. In 2009, 79 percent was rated good to excellent.


Nationally, 62 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, with 24 percent fair and 14 percent poor to very poor, the same as last week. Those top numbers are well behind year ago when 71 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, 19 percent was fair and 10 percent poor to very poor. In 2009, 68 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent.

This week's photos, from the Nebraska Corn Board's crop progress set on Flickr, feature photos submitted by the Howells-Clarkson FFA chapter.

For more details of Nebraska's corn crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.