The U.S. corn and soybean harvest continued to progress faster than normal last week amid mostly favorable weather.
Monday afternoon’s USDA weekly crop update pegged U.S. corn harvest progress at 22% as of Sunday, up from 14% a week earlier and the five-year average of 14%.
However, the corn harvest progress figure was a bit below trade expectations, which ranged from 25-30%.
Soybean harvest was pegged at 12%, up from 6% last week and just ahead of the five-year average of 11%.
USDA said that 76% of the U.S. soybean crop was dropping leaves, ahead of a five-year average of 68%.
Corn harvest continued to speed along in the No. 2 producing state of Illinois, nearing the halfway point at 46% done, well ahead of the five-year average of just 16%.
The Illinois soybean harvest also picked up pace, reaching 22% done, compared with an average of 10%.
In the top corn and soybean producing state of Iowa, corn harvest was still only 7% complete, just ahead of the average of 5%, as many producers continue to allow the crop to dry down in the field.
Statewide, the average moisture content of corn in the field was pegged at 24%, according to the Iowa office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The average moisture content of corn being harvested was at 19%.
The Iowa soybean harvest reached 11% complete, versus an average of 10%.
Editor’s note: Richard Brock, The Corn And Soybean Digest's Marketing Editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.