As harvest marches on, USDA offers fewer and fewer data points for 2026 crops. With soybean harvest past the halfway mark, the agency is no longer reporting on quality ratings. And this is the last week USDA will list corn quality ratings in its weekly Crop Progress report after harvest reached 44% Oct. 18.
Corn quality ratings were mostly steady last week, with 56% of the crop still in good-to-excellent condition through Sunday. However, the condition shifted slightly, with the split moving from 44% good and 12% excellent to 43% good and 13% excellent.
About 27% of the crop is rated fair (unchanged from last week), with the remaining 17% rated poor or very poor (also unchanged from last week).
Physiologically, 95% of the crop is now fully mature, up from 91% a week ago and slightly behind the prior five-year average of 96%. Harvest progress moved from 33% last week up to 44%. That’s moderately behind the prior five-year average of 52% so far. It was also below the entire range of trade guesses, which came in between 45% and 56%.
Nearly all (96%) of this season’s soybean crop is now dropping leaves, up from 92% a week ago and slightly behind the prior five-year average of 97%. Harvest progress improved from 46% last week up to 64% through Sunday. That’s also slightly behind the prior five-year average of 65% and below the average trade guess of 66% (individual estimates ranged between 62% and 75%).
Other regional harvests are also ongoing, including:
- cotton at 41% (up from 31% last week)
- sorghum at 46% (up from 40% last week)
- peanuts at 39% (up from 29% last week)
- sugarbeets at 55% (up from 32% last week)
- rice at 97% (up from 92% last week)
Winter wheat plantings improved from 51% completion a week ago up to 63% through Oct. 18. That’s still moderately slower than the prior five-year average of 69%. Emergence reached 39%, up from 27% last week but still behind the prior five-year average of 43%.
Click here for additional data points from today’s USDA Crop Progress report, including a state-by-state look at topsoil and subsoil moisture, days suitable for fieldwork, and more.