Late October weather was not much different from mid October weather, subsequently very little progress was made last week toward completion of corn and soybean harvest in the Cornbelt. With the majority of crops remaining in the field, along with expected quality deterioration, many farmers may be calling their crop insurance agent in coming days to find out what happens if the crop is still in the field and the coverage has ended.

USDA’s Crop Progress report Monday afternoon indicated that 94% of the corn crop is mature, compared to the 99% average for the past five years, but only 25% of the crop had been harvested as of November 1. And that is well behind the 71% average for 2004 to 2008.

Within the Cornbelt, ND has only 2% of its crop harvested, but only 60% of it is mature. MI is 10% harvested, SD and MN are at 12%, and WI is at 13%. NE and IA are 18% harvested, IL is 19%, but IN and OH are in the mid-20% range. During the past week, no state advanced its harvest more than 7%, and most were only in the 3% and 6% range, except for the fact ND made no progress at all in harvesting corn.

Soybean harvest, nationally, advanced only from 44% last week to 51% this week, but most of that was in the southern soybean belt. Across the Cornbelt, harvest progress ranges from 29% in WI and 35% in IL to as much as 69% in NE and 82% in OH. Other Cornbelt states fall in the middle. Substantial harvest progress of 10% in the Dakotas, 11% in IN and 12% in MN. However, only 2% progress was made in IL and 4% in WI.

As the weather-weary fall wears on, crop quality continues to deteriorate. While 18% of the corn remained in the excellent category, the amount of corn rated as good faded from 51% last week to 49% this week with more acreage pushed into the fair and poor ratings. For soybeans, 15% of the crop remained in the excellent category, but the amount of acreage rated as good dropped from 50% last week to 48% this week with acreage being shoved into the poor and very poor ratings.

Although the deadline is 5 weeks away for the end of the insurance period for Cornbelt row crops, such as corn and soybeans, many farmers are fearing they may push hard against that deadline unless there is more opportunity for crops to dry out, for soils to dry out, and for harvesting equipment to get another chance to do its work. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) Monday released a statement advising farmers what to expect with their crop insurance policy if crops are not out of the field by the December 10 end of their insurance policy. RMA says, “The most important action you can do is to contact your crop insurance agent to report a loss, indicating your harvest is delayed because of adverse weather, which is an insured cause of loss.” But RMA says normal harvest practices must be carried out if possible. Interestingly, RMA says the cost of drying wet crops is not covered.

When December 10 arrives, and crops are still in the field, RMA indicates, “you may request additional time to harvest beyond the calendar date for the End Of Insurance Period (EOIP), from your crop insurance company.” USDA says its procedures allow crop insurance companies to authorize farmers to additional time to harvest, so any claims can be settled on the basis of harvested production.

You would qualify for extra time to harvest when 1) you give a timely notice of the problem to your agent, 2) your crop insurance company documents that the delay was due to an insured cause of loss, and 3) you can demonstrate that harvest was not possible due to insured causes, and 4) your delay in harvesting was not because you did have enough manpower and equipment to complete harvest by the December 10 deadline.

RMA is careful to say that just because you are given additional time to harvest does not mean the coverage period is being extended past December 10. It says you are being given extra time to harvest to determine the extent of any loss. If you lose some of the corn due to lodging or beans due to shatter loss, that would be covered, but if any of your crop is lost because of something you could have avoided, then that would be deducted from your indemnity check.

The Risk Management Agency urges you to document your field conditions and the action you are taking, and adds that you must make every effort to harvest your crop during the extended period. If you still do not get the crop harvested during the extended period, RMA says the crop is uninsurable.

Summary:
Very little harvest progress was made for either corn or soybeans during the past week in the Cornbelt due to inclement weather. More progress was made in harvesting soybeans than corn, however the majority of both crops remain in the field as of November 1. The extended harvest may well push against the December 10 end of the crop insurance period for corn and soybeans in the Cornbelt, and the USDA has alerted farmers to notify their crop insurance agent about their harvest progress so a potential extension can be made to harvest the crops beyond the deadline. USDA is not extending the deadline, but is allowing extra time to determine what the potential loss may be for insured crops.