The U.S. corn harvest was 31% complete as of Sunday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a weekly progress report on Tuesday, behind the average estimate in a Reuters analyst poll of 34%, while the soybean harvest was 44% complete, above the average analyst estimate of 41%.
For the first time this fall, harvest progress for soybeans surpassed its five-year average, which was 38% for this week. Corn progress topped its five-year average for the first time in a month as farmers took advantage of clear skies. States across the Midwest and Plains had six to seven days in the last week considered “suitable for fieldwork,” the USDA said.
Corn and soy condition ratings improved. The USDA rated 54% of the U.S. corn crop and 57% of the soybean crop in good to excellent condition, both up 2 percentage points from the previous week. Analysts on average had expected no change.
The United States is the world’s biggest corn exporter and the No. 2 supplier of soybeans after Brazil.
Farmers continued planting winter wheat that will be harvested in 2023, although dry conditions remain a concern in the southern Plains. The USDA said 55% of the U.S. crop had been seeded as of Sunday, matching the average analyst estimate but behind the five-year average of 58%.
In Kansas, the biggest U.S. winter wheat grower, subsoil moisture was short to very short in 86% of the state, the USDA said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago Editing by Matthew Lewis and Richard Pullin)
