Chad Smith, NAFB News Service

The 2020-2021 U.S. corn crop is entering market channels as 2020 comes to a close. The U.S. Grains Council’s Corn Harvest Quality Report says the crop has a higher average test weight, lower moisture, and lower total damage relative to each quality factor’s average of the previous five crops. While wet weather in April and May contributed to historic delays in planting and crop maturity in 2019, the 2020 corn crop was planted slightly ahead of the average pace of the previous five crops and experienced generally favorable conditions during the remainder of the growing season. “That resulted in both high grain quality and yield,” the report says. This year’s crop showed a higher test weight than the 2019 and five-year average results. It showed a lower average of broken corn and foreign material than last year. There was lower average total damage than in 2019 and the five-year average, as well as lower than average moisture content than 2019 and the last five years. The crop also showed higher-than-average protein concentration, lower average stress cracks, and lower average 100-kernel weight. “We offer this report to help buyers make well-informed decisions by providing reliable and timely information about the quality of the U.S. crop,” says USGC Chair Jim Raben.