As of this past Sunday, soybean growers were in their stretch run for this year’s harvest, but corn growers still had a long way to go.

Measurable snow has already fallen across a good part of the Corn Belt, Lake States and Northern Plains and with colder than usual temperatures setting in, many farmers are facing as much difficulty getting crops out of their fields as they did getting them planted this past spring.

With 7% of corn acres yet to fully mature and 97% of soybeans dropping leaves, the 2019 harvest season is well underway but still lagging compared with a year ago, according to the USDA’s Oct. 27 Crop Progress report.

As of Oct. 13, 22% of corn acres were in the bin, along with 26% of soybeans, according to USDA’s latest Crop Progress report. Condition of the crops moving to the harvest season remained essentially unchanged from the past several weeks.

Following the Oct. 7, 2019, USDA Crop Progress report, crops still remains significantly behind schedule. Additionally, corn and soybean saw some small decreases in their reported “good” and “excellent” crop conditions.

According to USDA’s Sept. 23 Crop Progress report, 7% of corn has been harvested, but few growers in the big corn states have taken their combines out the shed. Meanwhile, soybeans still have a lot of catching up to do. Overall, the condition of both crops is little changed from the past few weeks.

Corn in the dough stage improved from last week’s rate of 89% to 93% as of Sept. 15. This still remains behind the corn in the dough stage percentage from Sept. 15, 2018 of 99% and the 5 year average of 98%.

The home stretch of this year’s U.S. corn and soybean crops is still a ways off, unlike recent years when, by this date, farmers would be preparing their combines for harvest.

While corn in the dough stage improved from 71% a week ago to 81% as of Sept. 1, the crop continues to trail last year’s development for this date, which was 95%, as well as the 5 year average of 93%. Corn dented is even further behind, with only 41% of this year’s crop at this stage vs. 73% last year on this date and 5 year average of 63%.

The latest Crop Progress report from USDA shows a small improvement in the condition of both corn and soybean crops as of Aug. 25. But, as expected, both remain significantly behind both last year's and the 5 year average when it comes to pace of development.