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Second slowest corn harvest in 25 years

This year’s corn harvest as of December first is the second slowest on record in the past quarter century, behind 2009.

USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey explains, “Looking at the years that we do have data for, going into December, this remains the second slowest harvest in the last 25 years.”

As of Sunday, 89% of corn had been harvested. On December 1st, 2009, it was 82%.

In 1992, he says only 77% of corn was harvested as of that date. Rippey says, “That is so long ago that North Dakota was not even considered a major production state at that time, so it’s a little bit mixing apples and oranges due to shifting cropping areas.”

So, that makes 1992 and 2009 the only years on record slower than this year’s U.S. corn harvest in the past 30 years.