Five days were suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Aug. 11, according to the latest crop report from NASS’ Michigan field office.

The report, issued Aug. 13, reported “cooler temperatures and some much needed rain” in the middle of the week. Central Michigan received significant rainfall, from 4-8 inches. In southwestern Michigan, early-planted cornfields were approaching the dent stage under irrigation. In other areas, growth and development had been slowed by continuing drought conditions.

Last week weather conditions remained about the same, said Marty Saffell, an agricultural statistician at the Michigan NASS office. The most recent Drought Monitor map for the state, issued Aug. 16, shows significant improvement in the weather compared to the map from Aug. 9.

The map, published by the National Climatic Data Center, shows the tiny chunk of extreme drought in the south giving way to less severe conditions and other parts of the state giving way to even more moderate conditions.

According to the NASS report, 26 percent of corn was rated very poor, 25 percent poor, 24 percent fair, 22 percent good and 3 percent excellent. For soybeans, 16 percent were rated very poor, 24 percent poor, 32 percent fair, 22 percent good and 6 percent excellent.

For fruit crops, disease pressure has been low this year because of the dry weather. For vegetables, harvest was under way on all the crops in the southwest. Summer squash and zucchini harvest in the central region continued, with fruit growing rapidly. Sweet corn, pickle and cucurbit harvest continued throughout the state.