What’s Happening With U.S. Corn Harvest?

Much like the holidays, a complete U.S. corn harvest is right around the corner. According to the USDA Crop Progress report for the week ending Nov. 3, the country’s corn harvest progress has reached 91% across top growing states.

That puts U.S. corn harvest 16 percentage points ahead of the five-year average. 

With just 9% of the crop unharvested, farmers in top states have about 7 million more acres of corn to harvest. That’s based on June acreage data from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Progress Ahead of Average in All States

Considering respective five-year averages for corn harvest in individual states, all 18 top states are ahead of normal harvest progress at this point.

For the fourth week in a row, Ohio’s corn harvest was the furthest ahead compared to normal progress. Farmers’ efforts in the Buckeye State pushed corn harvest progress to 89% by Nov. 3. That was an increase of 17 percentage points for the week, and it’s ahead of the five-year average by 37 percentage points.

At the other end of the spectrum, North Carolina’s corn harvest — 99% complete — is just one percentage point ahead of normal. 

Texas First to Finish Line

Notably, this marked the first week that corn harvest in any top state reached 100%. Texas is the first of the top 18 corn-growing states to wrap up 2024’s corn harvest.

Farmers in top corn-growing states saw an average of 5.8 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Nov. 3. Of the 18 states, Pennsylvania farmers were able to take advantage of a full week suitable for fieldwork. On the other hand, Iowa farmers had the fewest days suitable for fieldwork at 4.7 days.