The U.S. corn crop got high marks for quality from the record harvest. The U.S. Grains Council says the corn crop was good, with 88 percent of samples rating at grade No. 2 or better.
“This year’s report shows for the second year in a row that the United States has an abundant supply of high-quality corn available to export,” said Kurt Shultz, USGC director of global strategies. “The average values from the report indicate that the United States will have a crop that will store and handle well as it moves through the market channels to export.”
According to the report, the 2014 corn crop is entering the marketing channels with the following key characteristics:
– average test weight well above the limit for No. 1 grade corn, indicating overall good quality.
– low levels of broken corn and foreign material, with 96.2 percent below the limit for No. 1 grade corn.
– 100 percent of sampled corn testing below the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aflatoxin action level of 20 parts per billion.
– slightly lower moisture content than in 2013, as was the incidence of stress cracks. However, total damage levels were significantly higher, likely due to weather conditions, though 94 percent of samples were still below the limit for No. 2 corn.
– protein concentration lower than in 2013, likely due to higher yields in 2014.
– comparable starch concentration to 2013, indicating relatively good kernel filling and maturation.
You can read the complete report, which is based on 629 yellow commodity corn samples taken from defined areas within 12 of the top corn-producing and exporting states, here.