What Is Going on With Wisconsin Corn and Soybean Harvest?

As of Oct. 27, 65% of Wisconsin’s corn was harvested, said USDA in its latest Crop Progress report. That’s a striking 30 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. In context, that means corn harvest is 15 days ahead of normal, said USDA in Wisconsin’s Crop Progress and Condition report.  

At 96%, the state’s soybean harvest is 23 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. That translates to nearly four weeks ahead of typical progress.

Shot of Rain ‘Not Enough to Slow Down Harvest’

It was continued dry weather that factored into the productive week of harvest across the state. According to USDA, Wisconsin farmers were presented with nearly a full week of conditions fit for harvest. The Crop Progress report said the state had 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork.

According to Nick Groth, an agronomist with Syngenta, dry conditions persisted for most of the state, besides one passing system that dropped a few tenths of an inch of rain. It was “not enough to slow down harvest,” said the agronomist.

In fact, this season’s persistent dry weather has “made for one of the fastest harvests on record for both corn and soybeans,” said Groth.

Groth said corn harvest is actually wrapping up for the bottom half of the state, and it’s well-timed. “Many growers in the southern half of [the] state are nearing the end of corn harvest, just in time to avoid extremely low harvest moistures,” said the agronomist.

As for the northern half of the state, Groth estimated corn harvest to be about 50% complete. “Luckily, moistures are holding on [in] the north a bit better,” he said.

Although the lack of rainfall has allowed for a quick harvest, soil moisture supplies have been depleted across Wisconsin. USDA said that all but 27% of Wisconsin’s topsoil moisture condition was rated short or very short, and all except 37% of the state’s subsoil moisture condition was rated short or very short. 

In addition to negatively affecting soil moisture ratings, USDA said that “the weather also led to declines in wheat and pasture conditions.”