US corn harvest nears completion, wheat quality lags on dryness

US crop report data shows that the US corn harvest as of November 26 is now complete on 95% of the planted land. Corn has now largely caught up with the 2012-2016 average of 98%, but winter wheat quality is falling behind that of the previous year.

While the corn harvest is at 95%, there remain strong regional variations, with states like Wisconsin – the eighth biggest corn producer in 2016 at 573 million bushels – only 81% complete, 14 percentage points behind the same stage in 2016.

Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan are also still in the 80% complete range, respectively the tenth, eighteenth and thirteenth biggest corn producers in 2016, accounting for just under a billion bushels in 2016, or 6.38% of the US total supply.

For emerged winter wheat, the progress is exactly on the five-year average, although quality remains behind last year’s performance with the emerging plantings rated good or excellent in 50% of cases, versus 58% at this stage last year.

South Dakota is seeing particular issues with its crop – the state was the sixth biggest producer in 2016 with a crop 111 million bushels, but 25% of the wheat is classed as very poor, with a further 13% rated as poor as the state is hit hard by a lack of rainfall.

According to topsoil moisture data, South Dakota’s cropland acreage is listed as very short or short on 44% of the land, while subsoil is qualified as very short or short of moisture on 53% of the acreage.