This article was originally published at 3:06 p.m. CDT on Monday, Sept. 21. It was last updated with additional information at 4:08 p.m. CDT on Monday, Sept. 21.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Despite heavy rain across much of the Corn Belt last week, the nation's corn and soybean harvests continued ahead of their average paces, according to USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report released on Monday.

The nation's weather pattern is expected to shift this week, bringing improved harvest conditions to parts of the Midwest while maintaining a steady stream of moisture across drought-affected areas of the Plains, according to DTN forecasts.

CORN

-- Crop development: Corn dented was estimated at 92%, 2 percentage points ahead of last year's 90% and 1 point ahead of the five-year average of 91%. Corn mature was pegged at 58%, 4 percentage points ahead of last year's 54% and 3 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 55%.

-- Harvest progress: NASS estimated that 13% of corn has been harvested nationally, 3 percentage points ahead of last year's 10% and 2 points ahead of the five-year average of 11%.

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 57% of the crop was in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week but 9 percentage points below last year's 66%. Seventeen percent of the crop was rated very poor to poor, equal to the previous week and 7 percentage points above the previous year's 10%.

SOYBEANS

-- Crop development: Soybeans dropping leaves were pegged at 62%, 4 percentage points ahead of both last year and the five-year average pace of 58%.

-- Harvest progress: NASS estimated that 12% of soybeans had been harvested as of Sunday, 4 points ahead of both last year and the five-year average of 8%

-- Crop condition: NASS estimated that 58% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week but 3 percentage points below the previous year's 61%.

SPRING WHEAT

-- Harvest progress: Spring wheat harvest reached 96% complete as of Sunday. That was equal to both last year's pace and the five-year average.

WINTER WHEAT

-- Planting progress: Winter wheat planting was estimated at 17% complete nationally, 2 percentage points behind last year's 19% and 4 percentage points behind the five-year average of 21%.

-- Crop development: Winter wheat emergence was estimated at 2%, 2 points behind both last year's pace and the five-year average.

THE WEEK AHEAD IN WEATHER

Following a week of excessive rainfall across much of the Corn Belt, DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said farmers in some areas may finally get an opportunity to return to the field, while producers in the Plains continue to receive much-needed moisture.

"After a week of some really heavy rainfall across large areas of the Corn Belt, it will be a lot tamer this week," Baranick said. "A stalled front last week brought some continuous rainfall over large areas of the Corn Belt, but that front is finally shifting down into the Southeast early this week. Showers are forecast to dwindle as it does so, leaving behind some more fall-like temperatures across more of the Midwest and Tennessee Valley after the extended summer last week. While harvest progress was tough in a lot of areas last week, the areas that saw heavy rain will have some chance to dry out, and maybe allow farmers to get back out into their fields later this week.

"But out in the Plains, rain will continue. We saw widespread showers last week that should help with the ongoing drought. Not all areas saw rain, of course, but many areas from west Texas into South Dakota and Montana got some needed rain. It may affect harvest but should help with moistening soils for winter wheat planting and early establishment. A lot of these areas are going to need more rain, and more is coming. We should see showers somewhere in the Plains every day this week. Some of the heaviest rain is forecast from New Mexico and west Texas into Nebraska. There could be some localized areas of flooding that go along with it if they hit the same areas over and over again. Otherwise, they should be good soaking rains now that we're heading into the true fall season."

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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 is your harvest going? 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.

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National Crop Progress Summary
	This	Last	Last	5-Year
	Week	Week	Year	Avg.
Corn dented	92	86	90	91
Corn mature	58	42	54	55
Corn harvested	13	8	10	11
Soybeans dropping leaves	62	44	58	58
Soybeans harvested	12	6	8	8
Winter wheat planted	17	8	19	21
Winter wheat emerged	2	NA	4	4
Spring wheat harvested	96	93	96	96
Cotton bolls opening	65	57	59	58
Cotton harvested	13	8	12	11
Sorghum headed	97	94	100	99
Sorghum coloring	88	78	88	89
Sorghum mature	56	49	51	52
Sorghum harvested	25	22	25	26
Barley harvested	98	94	98	96
Rice harvested	73	62	70	60

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National Crop Condition Summary
(VP=Very Poor; P=Poor; F=Fair; G=Good; E=Excellent)
	VP	P	F	G	E
Corn
This Week	6	11	26	44	13
Prev Week	6	11	26	44	13
Prev Year	3	7	24	49	17
DTN 5-Yr Avg	5	10	26	46	13
Soybeans
This Week	4	10	28	46	12
Prev Week	4	9	29	46	12
Prev Year	4	8	27	48	13
DTN 5-Yr Avg	4	10	28	47	11
Peanuts
This Week	1	8	31	53	7
Prev Week	1	9	29	55	6
Prev Year	3	11	31	46	9
DTN 5-Yr Avg	2	8	32	51	7
Cotton
This Week	10	25	31	28	6
Prev Week	12	22	30	30	6
Prev Year	6	12	35	37	10
DTN 5-Yr Avg	12	17	30	34	6

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

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