The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its latest Crop Progress Report on Tuesday (October 19).
97% of corn is now mature according to the report, while 60% of the corn crop is now harvested, compared to 43% which is the five-year average for the time of year.
Large areas of corn remain to be harvested in states like Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.
75% of the soybean crop was harvested as of October 18. This is well ahead of the five-year average of 58% usually harvested at this time of the year. The majority of soybean crops are ready for harvest.
77% of the winter wheat crop is planted in the main winter wheat growing states. However, some states still have large amounts of planting to complete.
For example, Arkansas had 34% planted, while California had 20% of its winter wheat planted as of October 18. 51% of the winter wheat crop is estimated to be emerged.
Some areas are very dry for planting. Figures in the report detail some of the soil moisture levels in the US taking in 48 states and weighting the figures according to cropland acreage.
Topsoil moisture condition was described as adequate on 41% of land. 34% of soils were described as being short of soil moisture, while 22% of soils were very short. Just 3% of soils were described as having surplus soil moisture levels.
At the same time last year, 59% of soils were described as having adequate soil moisture levels; 16% were short and 8% were very short; while 17% had surplus soil moisture levels.
