Market News & Headlines >> Corn Harvest Advances Slower Than Expected

The 2019 U.S. corn harvest advanced more slowly than expected last week as delayed crop maturity and wet weather limited harvest activity. 

Monday afternoon's weekly Crop Progress report from USDA estimated U.S. corn harvest was 11% complete as of Sunday, down from the five-year average of 19% and 3 percentage points below the average of trade expectations in a Reuters News Service survey.  Meanwhile, USDA estimated that only 43% of the U.S. crop had reached maturity, 30 percentage points below the five-year average. 

Corn harvest was farthest behind in Illinois at 4% complete versus a five-year average of 30% and in Missouri at 26% complete versus an average of 47%. 

In its first estimate of 2019 soybean harvest progress, USDA said 7% of the U.S. crop had been harvested by Sunday, well below the five-year average of 20%, but one point above the average of trade expectations. USDA estimated that 55% of the U.S. crop was dropping leaves, versus an average pace of 76%. 

Harvest progress was farthest behind in North Dakota at 4% complete versus a five-year average of 26% and in Illinois at just 1% complete versus an average of 22%. 

U.S. corn conditions were steady with a week earlier at 57% good/excellent, 12 percentage points below a year earlier, while the poor/very poor rating rose one point to 14%.  The good/excellent rating for the U.S. soybean crop improved by one percentage point to 55%, but was still 13 points below a year earlier, while the poor/very poor rating held steady at 13%.