Dryness aids corn, soy farms but nips wheat sowing

Fair weather is speeding the US corn and soybean harvests, of which more than 14m acres were harvested in a week, but has held farmers back from planting winter wheat.

US growers had harvested 26% of their corn crop as of Sunday, a record pace by this time of year, and above the 24% figure that investors had expected, US Department of Agriculture showed.

It also represented an 11-point increase in a week – equivalent to approaching 10m acres in area and nearly 1.2bn bushels (93m tonnes) of crop by weight.

Besides dry weather, the early harvest of the world’s biggest corn crop beyond an average rate of 9% by now is also being speeded by early plantings and – excessively – rapid development fostered in many areas by summer drought.

http://www.agrimoney.com/news/dryness-aids-corn-soy-farms-but-nips-wheat-sowing–4997.html