In the top 18 states for corn and soybean production, crop conditions are holding steady with solid advances being made in crop maturity, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) report for July 29.

Corn condition at 46% good and 17% excellent duplicated last week’s rating. However, in states like Kansas, only 29% of the crop was rated as good and just 4% was listed as excellent.

Corn silking advanced significantly, with a one-week increase in the top 18 states from 43% to 71%, but well behind last year’s 93% of the crop silked for this time period, the NASS report indicated.

Soybeans blooming for the week ending July 28 stood at 65% in the top 18 states vs. 46% a week earlier and behind the 2012 rating of 87%. Setting pods were at 20% vs 52% at this point last year in the top 18 states for soybean production.

For soybean condition, NASS reported 50% of the crop as being in good condition and 28% in fair condition, virtually identical to last week’s NASS report.