Crop Tracker

Crop Tracker · Worked example

Ahead on planting. Lower on condition.

Compare the same reporting week across years without confusing planting progress with crop condition.

Hypothetical teaching case60-second demo

The question

Can planting be ahead while the condition rating is lower?

Yes. In this fictional state example, planting is 15 percentage points ahead of the five-year average while good-plus-excellent condition is 4 points below the previous year.

Play the 60-second demonstration →

Start with these inputs

Geography
One fictional state
Crop
Corn
Comparison
Matched reporting week
Progress metric
Percent planted
Condition metric
Percent good + excellent
Source treatment
Teaching values, not USDA observations
Fictional progress comparison · same state and reporting week
SeriesCorn planted
Example current year65%
Example previous year55%
Example five-year average50%
Fictional condition distribution · each year sums to 100%
CategoryExample current yearExample previous year
Very poor3%2%
Poor7%5%
Fair22%21%
Good50%53%
Excellent18%19%
Good + excellent68%72%

Step 01

Match the comparison before subtracting

In Crop Tracker, select corn, the relevant geographic level, metric and reporting period. Compare equivalent stages across years and retain the source release date. The teaching values use one matched week; a current date on your computer does not establish the date of the latest report.

Step 02

Read progress in percentage points

Planting at 65% versus a 50% five-year average is a lead of 15 percentage points. The difference from the previous year’s 55% is 10 points. These are percentage-point differences, not statements that planting is 15% or 10% higher on a relative basis. Planting progress describes the share planted.

Step 03

Read condition as a separate distribution

Good plus excellent is 50% + 18% = 68% in the example current year and 53% + 19% = 72% previously. That is a 4-percentage-point decrease. The complete five-category distribution matters: the good-plus-excellent total does not show whether the other acres are fair, poor or very poor.

Step 04

Keep the conclusion at the reported scale

The example supports two separate observations about the fictional state: faster planting pace and a lower favorable-condition share. It supplies no final yield estimate, causal explanation or measurement of a particular farm. Missing or unpublished values remain missing; they are not replaced with zero.

Take it to your own plan

Preserve the crop, geography, metric, reporting week and source date. Progress, condition and yield are different pieces of information.

Sources and further reading

The sources explain methods and context. They do not supply the hypothetical prices, forecasts or crop percentages used here.