U.S. farmers produced a high-quality corn crop this year, according to the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council's (USGBC) 15th annual corn quality survey. The USGBC announced the survey's findings in its 2025-26 Corn Harvest Quality Report, released in November.

The council's report provided information about the quality of the U.S. corn crop to assist industry leaders in making well-informed buying decisions. The council said that through trade, it is committed to the furtherance of global food security and mutual economic benefit.

"Generally favorable weather conditions allowed for the 2025 crop to be planted at a pace similar to the average pace of the previous five crops," the council's report stated. "Following planting, warm conditions promoted timely emergence and strong early growth despite dry weather prior to pollination. The crop experienced warm and wet conditions during pollination, followed by progressively cooler and drier conditions during early grain-fill, which limited kernel size and weight. Much of the Eastern Corn Belt had exceptionally warm and dry weather during dry-down and harvest while pockets of rain in September delayed progress in the Western Corn Belt."

In addition to the record size of the 2025 corn crop, the council reported the United States produced a corn crop with high grain quality that will enable it to account for an estimated 38.4% of global corn exports during the marketing year. The average aggregate quality of the representative samples tested for USGBC 2025-26 Corn Harvest Quality Report (2025/2026 Harvest Report) was better than the grade factor requirements for U.S. No. 1 grade. The report also showed 87.1% of the samples met the grade factor requirements for U.S. No. 1 grade, and 97.8% met the grade factor requirements for U.S. No. 2. Here is a link to the entire report: https://grains.org/….

FARMERS, ELEVATORS WEIGH IN

I asked farmers and elevator managers from different areas to tell me about their harvest, quality, yields, storage and anything else they wanted to share. Here are their responses.

ROSLYN, SOUTH DAKOTA

"We finished up corn harvest here Nov. 14 with 10 days to spare before the snow and cold hit," said Ryan Wagner, Wagner Farms Roslyn, South Dakota. "The weather really cooperated this year, so once we got rolling, we had very few weather delays. We started corn Oct. 9 on an early maturating hybrid with moisture around 23%, and by the time we finished, it was down to the 16% to 17% range on full-season hybrids. We are set up to dry corn so moisture in that 20% range is ideal to minimize header loss.

"A cold snap in late May really set the crop back, and it had a tough time recovering with development seemingly behind all summer relative to GDUs accumulated. But a warm September and a late killing frost allowed all the corn to reach maturity and fill out nicely, so test weight and grain quality wasn't a concern like we thought it might be midsummer. Despite losing a few acres to drown-out, due to some big rain events, yields were very good. It won't quite be a record but looks like it will for sure be Top 5 and maybe even No. 2 all-time on our farm after the bumper crop we had in 2016. Pretty much everyone I talk to in the area says about the same thing, and all the corn in ground piles locally proves it!"

MANTORVILLE, MINNESOTA

"Our corn yields were very good, although the test weight was a little off because we had a hot, dry stretch in September that finished our crop too fast," said Andy Buckwalter, Mantorville, Minnesota. "We were fortunate to miss the heavy corn disease pressure. Overall, very pleased with the corn crop."

EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA

"Corn harvest in our area went good," said Darrin Schmidt, eastern North Dakota. "Yields were excellent with the large majority of fields coming in at or above APH on our farm and from talking with friends and neighbors. Test weight seemed to be slightly better or more consistent than previous years, wet averaging in that 56-57 range, which could be variety induced. Everything was between 18-22 moisture that was coming off the field -- so right in the sweet spot for us. Our local elevator lost its grain dryer to a fire, so that slowed us down a bit for storage issues; but having our own dryer helped a lot."

CLOVERDALE, OHIO

"After a rollercoaster of a weather season (wet spring, extremely dry finish) we were pleased with our corn yields," said Cody Etter, Cloverdale, Ohio. "Yields came in as expected, near APH. While we saw great variability in yields and moisture within fields based on water-holding capacity, it ended up as an average crop. We had no disaster fields, and no records. All things considered, with 0.3 inch in August and very little in September, finishing in a D3 drought, we couldn't ask for much more.

"One thing of note, and I'm still unsure what to make of it, we had zero lines at harvest. Dump hours were long throughout harvest on both soybeans and corn. With basis warming during harvest, and especially since harvest, I can't help but wonder if we were spared by some localized rainfall at the end of July, while many other areas missed out. I have a feeling we won't know the whole story until next August and September."

MARQUETTE, NEBRASKA

"Overall, for my 2025 crop year, yields turned out to be expected," said Cale Carlson, Marquette, Nebraska. "Some of my expenses were higher in some areas but a little bit lower on areas, like irrigation, given the amount of rainfall we saw. I found my niche markets like non-GMO white corn worked out well for a little bit of profitability, but still struggling, finding profitability and growing commercial, yellow corn or soybeans.

"Yellow corn harvest took a little bit longer, but that's just because I planted so much of my non-GMO white corn and was a little bit longer to harvest, but I had really good plant health and standability. It just takes a little bit longer drying it, storing it and handling it gently at my bin site. Disease pressure did creep into my area, but I felt really good and confident with a fungicide program we had set in place early and ready to go. Very glad I sprayed everything, and very glad I irrigated late into the season to keep a good moisture profile. I think that helped with plant health and, ultimately, yields; the corn dried down nicely throughout the end of September and October, so very minimal drying cost."

WARREN, ILLINOIS

"A lot of variability in areas," said Garrett J. Toay, Warren, Illinois. "Ultimately, I think the tassel wrap issues weren't as big of a deal as everyone thought. Southern rust was an issue. In northern Illinois, we had guys who had all-time-record yields, and we got a little. Further west, where southern rust was an issue, yields were knocked 30-40 bpa. I personally picked some hybrids that were hitting 400 bpa on the monitor; never have seen that in 12 years of farming before. Overall, I think U.S. corn yield is 180- to 184-type levels. I don't think they're sub-180, but there's adequate corn around, it feels like. Beans were average at best."

EAST GRAND FORKS, MINNESOTA

"The corn crop for the region seemed to come in very strong for many with an over-average ending results," said Matthew Krueger, East Grand Forks, Minnesota. "There are always pockets you'll have of areas with lower yields, and that was mainly driven by heavier rains or hail that occurred in the summer. We saw that on a few fields that received 8 inches of rain in a seven-day period that just got waterlogged essentially. Funny how, though, a handful of fields that run 15%-20% below average hurts your farm average harder than you realize even when you have majority of your fields running 5%-10% above average. Personally, we saw heavy corn with test weights as high as 59-60 that we harvested around 17%-18%. But talking with an elevator, they saw more 20%-plus corn this fall than they had in the past but also confirmed test weights not being an issue and remaining strong even at those levels of moisture.

"Diseases were a little more evident for some this year, nothing that had significant impact on yield, but it does raise the question of how long until the northern regions begin to battle some diseases like Goss's, Anthracnose, and even some ear diseases (smut) as we continue to see corn acres become more common. Some diseases come due to weather-related events like wind and hail."

Krueger added: "We have bagged our corn for over five years now; last year or two there may have been another grower here and there that did it, but this year, we saw at least seven new growers start bagging. Not due to any loss of bins, but I think just due to storing their other crops and still wanting to store their corn. It will be interesting to see what growers think of it through the winter/spring and how it is managed. Snowfall can raise some challenges with it as well depending on when you want to haul the corn back out from the bags."

ONIDA, SOUTH DAKOTA

"This harvest was a grinder that I haven't experienced since 2014," said Kevin R. Kjorsvik, general manager Oahe Grain Corp. "Just long. Really good yields and a lot of corn was planted out here, so it was going to be a grinder anyway. However, September rains and cool temperatures set the crop back and any long-day corn was slow to dry down. Most waited for it to get down to 16%-17%, but those ideas didn't hold true the last couple of weeks in November. Hit with reality that winter is coming and they were going to lose their help, farmers finally kicked it into gear. Not everything got done, though, and there is still some 18%- to 19%-moisture corn sitting in the fields. A lot of ground piles and bags in farmers' hands currently. From what I hear from travelers across the state indicate, the crop was huge and other areas are sitting in the same situation whether it be farmers or elevators. Yields are phenomenal but slightly down from last year's record yields. Beans were a record yield with the crop running 50-55 bushels an acre."

Kjorsvik added: "I think elevators are worried about being able to pick this wet corn up in a timely manner. If they aren't worried about that, they should be worried about FOB South Dakota rail values sucking. We didn't pile anything, so no worries on my end. I think farmers in our area produced themselves out of a loss, but profit per hour worked will suck. With the extra time combining and hauling a big crop, much less the extra time if they will need to pick up bags/piles, they probably are questioning if it was worth it."

Mary Kennedy can be reached at mary.kennedy@dtn.com

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