Corn and soybean conditions both took small steps lower in the last week as farmers start to put more of a dent into this fall's corn harvest.

As of Sunday, 22% of the nation's corn crop is in good or excellent condition, while 52% is in poor or very poor shape, according to Monday's USDA-NASS Crop Progress report. The latter figure's up 1% from last week's report. The same move is true for soybeans; 30% of the nation's bean crop is in good or excellent shape while 38% is in poor or very poor condition.

Rain -- some in amounts in excess of 8 inches -- fell over the weekend, which could help the soybean crop make the final push through pod-fill. "The widespread rain this weekend was very welcome and hopefully helped the soybean crop set and fill a few more pods," Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said Monday afternoon. "The crop continues to mature rapidly and will likely result in a record early harvest in many parts of the state this year."

• See more from Monday's report
• Read more on the past weekend's rainfall
  

Though there was some speculation in the marketplace that recent moderating temperatures and scattered rainfall around the Corn Belt might be enough to give crop conditions a slight jolt of life, farmers say it's simply too late to do any good. And, many are starting to worry, despite optimism like that voiced by Northey, that point is getting dangerously close for the soybean crop.