The American corn harvest is underway, with early progress slightly ahead of last year and the five-year average.
Tuesday's USDA crop progress report showed 5% of the nationwide corn crop in the bin as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of last year and 2 points ahead of average.
Most of the progress to date has occurred in Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. An estimated 3% of the Illinois crop was off as of Sunday, 2 points ahead of the state average, while Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and North Dakota had yet to report measurable harvest progress.
Corn maturity advanced rapidly, reaching 25% nationally, up from 13% a week earlier and slightly ahead of the 23% average. Illinois jumped to 29% mature from 11%, while Iowa reached 17% from 6% and Indiana 12% from 2%. Ohio advanced to 16% from 5%, North Dakota to 16% from 7%, while Michigan remained at zero.
Overall corn conditions slipped slightly, with 56% of the American crop rated good to excellent as of Sunday, down from 57% a week earlier. Iowa held steady at 77% good to excellent, while Illinois fell 3 points to 55%. Indiana was unchanged at 62%, Michigan slipped 1 point to 59% and Ohio held at 61%. North Dakota deteriorated more noticeably, falling 5 points to just 19% good to excellent.
For soybeans, leaf drop accelerated sharply, with 26% of the U.S. crop dropping leaves, double the previous week’s 13% and ahead of the 20% average. North Dakota reached 33%, followed by Iowa at 26%, Illinois at 24%, Indiana at 23%, Michigan at 19%, and Ohio at 15%.
National soybean conditions were unchanged at 58% good to excellent. Iowa slipped 2 points to 75% and Illinois fell 2 points to 57%, while Indiana held at 63%. Michigan improved 3 points to 54%, Ohio gained 2 points to 60% and North Dakota rose 5 points to 35%.
