The US Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress report of 21 September, the 25th of the 2026 season, shows harvest moving a little faster than usual in the main corn and soybean states while the sowing of next year's winter wheat falls behind. As of 20 September, 13 percent of the corn across 15 of the top 18 states had been harvested, against a five-year average of 11 percent, with harvest starting in two more states during the week.

Ninety-two percent of the corn crop had reached the dent stage, just ahead of the 91 percent average, and 58 percent was mature, ahead of the 55 percent average. Crop condition for the week ending 20 September was 57 percent good to excellent, 26 percent fair and 17 percent poor to very poor. A week earlier 57 percent had been good to excellent; a year ago the figure was 66 percent.

Soybeans are further ahead of their usual pace. Sixty-two percent of the crop in the top 18 states was dropping leaves, against a 58 percent average, and 12 percent had been harvested across 17 of the 18 states, well ahead of the 8 percent average, with harvest under way in four more states than the week before. Condition stood at 58 percent good to excellent, 28 percent fair and 14 percent poor to very poor; last week's good-to-excellent share was 58 percent and last year's 61 percent.

Winter wheat planting for the 2027 harvest reached 17 percent in 17 of the top 18 states, trailing the 21 percent five-year average. In the first week of emergence data, 2 percent of the crop had emerged across nine states, behind the 4 percent average. Spring wheat harvest in the six main states was 96 percent complete, level with the average. Reporting by Mariah Squire.

Photo: Judd McCullum / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Source: Successful Farming