Harvest Season Underway

Things are looking good for this year's harvest according to an Associated Press article in Business Week.com this morning:

The lack of rain last week let Nebraska farmers make up any lost ground and get ahead on the season's harvest.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says nearly a third of the state's soybean crop has been harvested, ahead of the 29 percent average by this time of the year.

Soybean conditions are rated 78 percent good or excellent.

The USDA says Nebraska's corn harvest is 18 percent complete, 5 percentage points ahead of the 13 percent average.

Corn conditions are rated at 82 percent good or excellent.

I don't know about this year, but in recent years the farm has had a mix of corn and soybeans.

Elsewhere, the Grand Island Independent is reported:

Nebraska farmers are preparing for another solid harvest season as prices are edging up and warm temperatures are lingering into late September. Non-farmers should be cheering on their farming friends, because the agricultural sector is propping up the state’s economy again.

Corn prices are teasing the psychologically important $5.00 figure as farmers continue to tune up their combines and other equipment in preparation for harvest. Equally encouraging is that the corn seems to be drying far better than last year’s crop, which was hampered by high 20 to low 30 percent moisture levels in October.

And from Bloomberg.com:

Corn rose in Chicago, rebounding from yesterday’s one-month low, as a South Korean grain group said it will buy supplies from the U.S. Soybeans and wheat gained.

South Korea’s Major Feedmill Group said by e-mail it planned today to purchase 110,000 metric tons of corn for delivery in February. Corn futures yesterday touched $4.5425 a bushel, the lowest level since Sept. 3, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said stockpiles on Sept. 1 reached 1.708 billion bushels, the highest level since 2006.

Thank you, South Korea! Japan is getting closer!