Corn Harvest Charging Ahead

Harvest numbers continue to roll in. USDA’s September 17 Crop Progress report indicates 9 percent of the U.S. corn crop has been harvested, up 2 percentage points from last year and up 3 percentage points from the five-year average. Analysts were expecting slightly higher than reported harvest rates at this point for corn crops. However, analysts expected soybean harvest to be closer to 5 percent harvested instead of the 6 percent reported by USDA. Harvest progress for U.S. soybeans is up 2 percentage points from last year and 3 percentage points from the five-year average. Harvest progress continues to climb north with many of the Southern states finishing up corn harvest and getting started on soybeans.

Corn producers in Lousiana have completed harvest for the year. Georgia and South Carolina are nearly finished. Harvest progress in the Southeast moderately accelerated in advance of Hurricane Florence’s arrival. Producers in South Carolina have harvested 88 percent of the corn crop so far, up 3 percentage points from the five-year average and up 1 percentage point from last year. North Carolina corn producers are seeing similarly expedited harvest rates with 66 percent harvested, up 2 percentage points from the five-year average and the same as the previous year. Figure 1 outlines the corn acres harvested on a state-by-state level for the week ending Sept. 16.

Although soybean harvest reports are coming in for the first time this year, Louisana and Texas are already around halfway finished with 51 percent and 45 percent harvested, respectively. North Carolina soybean producers have accelerated harvest progress with 3 percent out of the ground, up 2 percentage points from the five-year average and the previous year. Figure 2 illustrates the percent of soybean acres harvested on a state-by-state level.

Warm crop conditions after a healthy dose of precipitation throughout the Corn Belt have pushed crops into maturing quickly. For the week ending Sept. 16, crop conditions have remained relatively unchanged, with USDA estimating 68 percent of the U.S. corn crop is in good-to-excellent condition. Corn crop conditions are up 1 percentage point from last week and up 7 percentage points from last year. The percent of corn crops in good-to-excellent condition is up 7 percentage points over last year’s 61 percent in good-to-excellent condition. Corn crops in poor-to-very-poor condition also have remained unchanged from the previous four weeks at 12 percent.

Soybean crops in good-to-excellent condition are down 1 percentage point from last week, coming in at 67 percent. But they’re up 4 percentage points from the five-year average and faring better than last year’s 59 percent in good-to-excellent condition. Like corn crop conditions, soybean crops in poor-to-very-poor condition have remained steady from last week’s rating at 10 percent.