Ten percent of Nebraska's corn is in the bin

Ten percent of Nebraska's corn crop was in the bin as of Oct. 11, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly crop progress report today.

That's up four points from last week but is three points behind last year and well behind the five-year average of 24 percent harvested by this point.

USDA also said 76 percent of the state's corn crop was mature as of Oct. 11. That's compared to 63 percent last week, 77 percent last year and 89 percent over the five-year average.

Considering the cold weather (and snow) over parts of the state this weekend, it's safe to say the crop is done developing. Some farmers were glad for the hard freeze because they hope it will help the crop dry down more quickly. Snow and rain, though, aren't part of that ideal scenario!

While some farmers were back in the fields yesterday, others were waiting for the corn to dry down - while a few in the western part of the state were waiting for snow to melt. It's been one of those weeks.

Nationally, 74 percent of the crop is mature, up considerably from last week's 57 percent but behind last year's 84 percent and the five-year average of 92 percent.

USDA said 13 percent of the country's corn crop is in the bin, up three points from last week. That's behind last year's 20 percent and the five-year average of 35 percent.

It will be interesting to see how the crop comes through the cold snap that spread through the Corn Belt over the weekend. Will  yields drop off? Will crop condition reports fall?

As of Oct. 11, though, USDA said 80 percent of Nebraska's crop remained in good to excellent condition. Nationally, it said 70 percent of the crop was in that category. (A year ago, the national figure was 62 percent good to excellent.)

While it would be nice to say corn harvest will be the focal point for farmers over the next week, many with soybeans to harvest have a ways to go, too. In Nebraska, only 45 percent of the crop is out, compared to 58 percent last year. Nationally, only 23 percent are in the bin, compared to 49 percent last year and the five-year average of 57 percent.