Only a fraction of the corn and soybean crops are still in the field, says the weekly Crop Progress report. It says 89 percent of corn and 94 percent of soybeans have been harvested. The totals are larger than traders expected and nearly on par with the five-year average of 88 percent of corn harvested and 96 of soybeans harvested by mid-November.
Corn harvesting lagged badly in Michigan and Wisconsin, said USDA. In Michigan, 59 percent of the crop was harvested, 16 points behind normal, and in Wisconsin, at 64 percent complete, harvest was 14 points behind normal. Cold, windy and snowy weather slowed fieldwork in Michigan last week, with deep snow halting harvest for some farmers. Snow, sleet and freezing rain stalled the harvest in Wisconsin. Record-large corn and soybeans crops are forecast this year, 14.407 billion bushels of corn and 3.958 billion bushels of soybeans.