Farmers continue a rapid harvest pace in 2020.
In the weekly Crop Progress Report released from USDA on Tuesday, the US corn harvest was 41 percent complete as of Sunday and soybeans were 61 percent harvested. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says corn and soybean harvest figures are well ahead of last year thanks to very favorable weather conditions.
?Corn was ahead of the five-year average of 32 percent and more than double last year?s pace where only 20 percent of the corn had been harvested by October 11, 2019,? Rippey said. ?Over the last three weeks, we?ve seen one third of the US corn crop harvested as we have had a very favorable harvest season.?
?As good as the progress was for the corn crop,? Rippey continued, ?even better for soybeans in terms of harvest. We?re far ahead of the five-year average of 42 percent and nearly triple last year?s pace of 23 percent harvested on October 11, 2019.?
Condition ratings slightly declined for row crops with 61 percent of the corn and 63 percent of the soybeans rated as good to excellent, each down one percentage point from a week prior. Analysts on average had expected no change.
USDA Deputy Chief Economist Cindy Nickerson says they are expecting a record yield for soybeans nationwide.
?The forecast for yields remains unchanged at 51.9 bushels per acre,? Nickerson said. ?In this case, we are expecting records in eight states for yields. With respect to area harvested, we are expecting 82.3 million acres, which is down from the previous forecast but up not quite 10 percent from 2019. 2020 would be the fifth highest planted and harvested acreage on record.?
For Iowa, corn harvest in the state reached 42 percent, over three weeks ahead of last year and nearly two weeks ahead of average. The Iowa soybean harvest is 78 percent complete, over three weeks ahead of last year and over two weeks ahead of average.
