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Corn nears a major milestone, while soybeans pass it and winter wheat planting marches forward.

Ben Potter, Senior editor

October 23, 2018

2 Min Read
bernardbodo/iStock/GettyImagesPlus

This past week, corn harvest reached the halfway point – well, almost, with USDA marking this year’s progress now at 49%. Soybean harvest made even greater strides, meantime, as did planting for the 2018/19 U.S. winter wheat crop.

For the week ending October 21, USDA has corn harvest pegged at 49% complete – up from 39% the week prior and still ahead of 2017’s pace of 37% and the five-year average of 47%. While some states are still off to a relatively low start, the average was propped up by five states with 80% or greater completion, including Illinois (82%), Kentucky (84%), Missouri (85%), North Carolina (92%) and Tennessee (92%).

Corn condition remains mostly unchanged, with 68% of the crop in good-to-excellent condition. Analysts expected a drop to 67%, but USDA did shift crop ratings slightly, with the breakdown between good and excellent moving from 47%/21% the prior week to 48%/20% last week. Another 20% of the crop is rated fair, with the remaining 12% rated poor or very poor – all unchanged from the prior week.

Soybean harvest made even bigger inroads last week, according to USDA – reaching 53% complete. That’s up from 38% the week prior but moves moderately behind 2017’s pace of 67% and the five-year average of 69%.

Soybean harvest progress throughout the Midwest hovers nearer the nationwide average, with southern states such as Louisiana (91%) and Mississippi (80%) continuing to lead the charge. But a handful of other states, including Kansas (23%), Iowa (37%), Missouri (33%), North Carolina (23%) and Wisconsin (36%) have yet to reach the 40% mark as of October 21.

Soybean crop quality remained firm, at 66% in good-to-excellent condition, despite analysts expecting USDA to dock crop quality a point this past week. Another 23% of the crop is rated fair, with the remaining 11% rated poor or very poor – all unchanged from the prior week.

The 2018/19 U.S. winter wheat crop moved from 65% planted the prior week to 72% complete last week. That pace is slightly behind 2017’s pace of 73% and the five-year average of 77%. Another 53% of the crop is emerged, improving from 44% a week ago and slightly ahead of 2017’s pace of 50%. This year’s pace of emergence still falls slightly behind the five-year average of 55%.

Other crop progress of note includes:

  • Sugarbeet harvest reached 65%, up from 42% the week prior.

  • Sorghum harvest reached 46%, up from 42% the week prior.

  • Cotton harvest reached 39%, up from 32% the week prior.

  • Peanut harvest reached 56%, up from 45% the week prior.

  • Rice harvest reached 90%, up from 88% the week prior.

About the Author(s)

Ben Potter

Senior editor, Farm Futures

Senior Editor Ben Potter brings two decades of professional agricultural communications and journalism experience to Farm Futures. He began working in the industry in the highly specific world of southern row crop production. Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge to cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, including agronomy, machinery, technology, business, marketing, politics and weather. He has won several writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association, most recently on two features about drones and farmers who operate distilleries as a side business. Ben is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

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