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| Farmers have harvested 65 percent of what is expected to
be a record corn crop, according to USDA. |
Soggy
Conditions Slow Harvest Progress, NCGA Notes
(11-04-04)
Corn growers
have harvested 65 percent of what is expected to be a record
corn crop, despite
being slowed last week by moderately
wet weather in many parts of the Corn Belt, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) latest crop bulletin.
This fall’s harvest progress is 16 percentage points behind
last year’s pace and 15 points off the five-year average.
Growers in
Minnesota and South Dakota are two weeks behind their normal
pace, while
North Dakota farmers are more than three weeks
behind, USDA said. At 45 percent complete, Minnesota’s harvest
is 50 percentage points behind last year’s pace. North Dakota
growers have harvested just 13 percent of the state’s crop,
compared to 92 percent at the same time last year.
Harvest in the central and southern Corn Belt is nearing completion,
with more than 80 percent of the crop in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas
and Missouri already in the bins.
The National Weather Service (NWS) is forecasting drier weather
and below normal temperatures in the central United States over
the next six to 10 days, providing a much needed window for growers
to continue harvesting. The chance of rain is below normal for
much of the country during the next week, NWS said.