The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its latest Crop Progress Report on Monday (October 26).

As of October 25, an estimated 72% of the corn crop had been harvested in the US. This is 34% ahead of the same time last year and 16% ahead of the five-year average for the time of year.

The soybean harvest is also progressing well for the time of year. Approximately 83% of soybeans were reported to be harvested on October 25. This is 26% ahead of the same time last year and 10% ahead of the five-year average for the time of year.

50% of sunflowers were reported to be harvested in the four main sunflower growing states of Colorado, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Winter wheat planting

Looking at planting and 85% of the winter wheat crop is estimated to be planted, according to the report. This is just 2% ahead of the same time last year and 5% ahead of the five-year average for the time of year.

According to the report, winter wheat planting was 100% complete in South Dakota on October 25.

Overall, topsoil moisture conditions showed little change since the previous week. In this week’s report, 48% of soils were reported to have ‘adequate’ soil moisture levels in the topsoil. This compares to 44% in the previous week. 6% of soils had a surplus. This is up from 3% the week before.

In this week’s report, 18% of soils were reported to be ‘very short’ of moisture, while 28% of soils were reported to be ‘short’ of moisture.