North American Corn Harvest is 52 percent completed
- By: "Farm Tender" News
- Cropping & Grain News
- Oct 25, 2018
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By Peter McMeekin
In North America, the huge summer crop harvest is finally moving into top gear after a run of weather-induced delays. At the same time, the winter wheat planting program is progressing well, and the delayed Canadian spring wheat harvest campaign is finally in the home stretch.
The United States (US) corn harvest is approaching 52% complete, which is ahead of the five-year average and well ahead of last season. Almost the entire crop is now mature, so it is just a case of getting a run of good weather and the progress number will jump significantly. The crop is rated 68 per cent good to excellent but there have been some isolated reports of rain damage such as sprouting, and yield reports are mixed compared to the lofty expectations.
On the soybean front, the US harvest is also approximately 50% complete, but contrary to corn, this is running behind both last year and the five-year average. Farmers were quick to get back into the fields to harvest beans once the wet weather subsided, but in some areas the rains and snow have already damaged the unharvested crop. The good to excellent crop rating dropped two points to 66 per cent and yield reports have also been disappointing.
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Sorghum harvest is reported at 48 per cent complete in the US. This compares to 39 per cent the previous week. US sorghum is Australia's biggest export competitor, particularly into China. The Chinese prefer the Aussie quality, but small crops and relatively high domestic demand has limited Australia’s export sales to the relatively inelastic China alcohol market in recent years. The effects of the east coast drought should ensure that next year will be no different.
According to the latest estimates, the US winter wheat crop is approximately 80 per cent planted. This is up fifteen percentage points on last week and on par with the five-year average. In Canada, the spring wheat harvest has been delayed due to snow. The Ag Ministry in Manitoba estimated that their spring wheat harvest was 98% complete but reports from Saskatchewan put their spring wheat harvest at just 75% complete. This is up week-on-week but is still well behind the same time last year. Not surprisingly, quality issues are surfacing as a result of the snow.
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