Harvest Quality Report: Corn samples find quality matches quantity

WASHINGTON — Sampling in the top U.S. corn-producing states found farmers harvested the highest quality in at least 15 years.

According to the U.S. Grains and BioProducts Council’s 15th annual Corn Harvest Quality Report, the U.S. corn crop is projected to be the largest on record at 16.752 million bushels, combined with the lowest rate of broken corn and foreign material, or BCFM, in the report’s history.

The samples had an average aggregate BCFM in 2025 of 0.3%, compared to 0.6% in 2024 and the five-year average of 0.7%. It also surpassed the previous low of 0.5% in 2023.

The report also showed that 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.

Relative to each quality factor’s average of the previous five crops, the 2025 corn crop entered the market channel with the same test weight and moisture, similar stress cracks and lower 100-kernel weight and kernel volume.

Generally favorable growing season conditions contributed to the highest projected average yield on record — 186 bushels per acre, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — and promoted good grain quality.

The 2025 growing season was marked by warm, dry conditions after planting, wetter conditions during pollination and progressively cooler and drier weather during early grain-fill.

“The council’s annual quality reports are held in high esteem in the international agricultural sector, and it’s used by purchasers and end-users around the world to identify the best options for their operations,” said Mark Wilson, USGBC chairman.

“U.S. farmers will account for an estimated 38.4% of global corn exports this marketing year, showing the outstanding production practices of U.S. growers and the strong reputation U.S. corn has with global customer bases.”

Sampling

The report is based on 621 yellow corn samples taken from defined areas within 12 of the top corn producing and exporting states.

Inbound samples were collected from local grain elevators to measure and analyze quality at the point of origin and provide representative information about the variability of the quality characteristics across the diverse geographic regions.

The chemical composition of the crop remained in a healthy range, as 100% of the samples tested below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration action level for both aflatoxins.

The council will present its findings to buyers in a series of roll-out events throughout the first quarter of 2026, including customers in Japan, Latin America, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Asia, South Korea and Taiwan, offering participants clear expectations regarding the quality of corn for this marketing year.

During these initiatives, crop quality information is accompanied by updates on U.S. corn grading and handling, that provides importers and end-users with a better understanding of how U.S. corn is moved and controlled through export channels.

Highlights

Here are some of the report’s U.S. aggregated sampling findings as the corn entered the export market:

• Test weight of 58.6 pounds per bushel was the same as the five-year average.

• Average U.S. aggregate total damage in 2025, 1.1%, was the same as 2024, but higher than the five-year average, 1%.

• No heat damage was found in any samples, the same as 2024 and the five-year average.

• Moisture content in 2025 had an aggregate average in 2025 of 16%, matching the five-year average. Last year’s average was 15.3%.

Chemical Composition

• Protein concentration averaged 8.4% dry basis in 2025, similar to 2024 at 8.5%, but lower than the five-year average of 8.6%.

• 72.3% dry basis was the average starch concentration, slightly higher than 2024, 72.2%, and higher than the five-year average of 72.1%.

• The average aggregate oil concentration in 2025, 3.8% dry basis, was lower than 2024 and the five-year average, both 3.9%.

Physical Factors

• Stress cracks in 2025 averaged 9.5%, similar to 2024 and the five-year average, both 9.3%.

• Average U.S. aggregate 100-kernel weight in 2025, 34.04 grams, was lower than 2024, 36.66 grams, and the five-year average, 35.12 grams.

• Kernel true density in 2025, 1.258 grams per cubic centimeter was lower than 2024, 1.265 grams per cubic centimeter, but similar to the five-year average, 1.255 grams per cubic centimeter.

• U.S. aggregate whole kernels averaged 90.6% in 2025, lower than 2024, 93.1%, and the five-year average, 92.3%.

• The horneous, or hard, endosperm in 2025, 83%, was lower than 2024, 85%, and the five-year average, 84%.

Mycotoxins

• In 2025, 100% of the samples tested at or below the FDA action level for aflatoxin of 20 parts per billion, and 99.4% of the samples tested below 5 parts per billion, a higher proportion than in 2024, 91.7%.

• Of the 2025 samples, 98.8% tested at or below the 5 parts per million FDA advisory level for deoxynivalenol. Also, 89.4% of the samples tested below 1.5 parts per million, a lower proportion than in 2024, 93.9%.

• In 2025, 87.2% of the samples tested below the FDA’s strictest guidance level for fumonisin of 5 parts per million, a lower proportion than in 2024, 97.2%.