* USDA rates 56% of winter wheat crop good-to-excellent

* CBOT wheat dips after earlier jump

* US corn crop plantings at 3% -USDA

CHICAGO, April 8 (Reuters) -

Chicago Board of Trade wheat dipped on Monday after a jump earlier in the day, as traders assessed conditions of the U.S. crops.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a report issued after trading ended, said 56% of winter wheat was in

good-to-excellent condition

, compared to 27% a year ago and the best for this time of year since 2020. The rating was unchanged from a week ago, as analysts had expected.

"The good-to-excellent ratings are some of the highest we've had in years," said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities. "That's a bit of an anchor."

The news comes despite significant winds across southern U.S. Plains wheat areas and market fears about the risk of dryness, after drought reduced last year's harvest.

"We continue to miss out on some rains in key growing areas," said Mark Soderberg of ADM Investor Services.

CBOT May wheat futures slipped 1-1/2 cents to end at $5.65-3/4. Most-active corn rose 1-1/4 cents to $4.35- 1/2 a bushel, while soybeans dropped 3-1/2 cents to finish at $11.81-1/2 a bushel.

Funds were

net sellers

of CBOT wheat and soybeans, traders said.

For corn, the start of U.S. plantings looks normal, Roose said, with USDA reporting 3% of the crop was planted as of Sunday, unchanged from last year and compared to 4% expected by analysts in

Reuters poll

.

On Thursday, the USDA is slated to update global supply and demand data in a monthly report.

Roose noted a disconnect between the USDA and Brazilian crop agency Conab's Brazilian harvest estimates and said traders would be looking to Thursday's report to see if the USDA's higher estimates persist.

Analysts said the corn crop in Brazil looked strong, while consultancy AgRural said

Brazil's soybean harvest

had reached 78% of the planted area as of last Thursday.

(Reporting by Renee Hickman in Chicago. Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg, additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Eileen Soreng, Alexander Smith and Richard Chang)