USGC 2022 Corn Harvest Quality Report: Higher Average Test Weight, Protein Content in This Year’s Harvest

According to the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) 2022/2023 Corn Harvest Quality Report, the 12th annual corn quality survey published globally today, the 2022 U.S. corn crop entering the market channel has a higher average test weight, higher protein concentration and lower total damage relative to each quality factor’s average of the previous five crops.

Cool temperatures early in the year caused delays in planting but May’s warm weather allowed farmers to catch up and the crop has since matured at a near-average pace. Areas of the western Corn Belt continued to endure higher heat and lower than expected precipitation.

These factors contributed to reduced yields in this year’s crop but accelerated maturation and the clear weather ensured a timely harvest, which has maintained crop quality.

The average aggregate quality of the representative samples tested was better than the grade factor requirements for U.S. No. 1 grade. The report also showed that 81.5 percent of the samples met the grade factor requirements for U.S. No. 1 grade and 95.3 percent met the grade factor requirements for U.S. No. 2.

“Through trade, the Council is committed to the furtherance of global food security and mutual economic benefit and offers this report to assist buyers in making well-informed decisions by providing reliable and timely information about the quality of the current U.S. crop,” said Kurt Shultz, USGC senior director of global strategies. “This year’s supply allows the United States to remain the world’s leading corn exporter and will account for an estimated 29.9 percent of global corn exports during the upcoming marketing year.”

Nearly all of the samples tested below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action level for aflatoxins and 86.1 percent of the samples tested below the 5.0 parts per million FDA advisory level for deoxynivalenol (DON) or vomitoxin. Of the samples tested for fumonisin, 98.9 percent tested below the FDA’s strictest guidance level of 5.0 parts per million, a slightly higher proportion than in 2021.

The 2022 U.S. corn crop checks in at 353.84 million metric tons (13,930 million bushels) and the average yield is 10.81 metric tons/hectare (172.3 bushels per acre), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate.