This time of year is busy for corn and soybean farmers because they're spending all of their time harvesting their crops.

When I was in college, a lot of my friends would spend every weekend home in October to help out with the harvest. 

For corn (for grain) and soybeans, the peak harvest time is about the middle of October through early November.

As of November 4th, I thought I'd check in to see how the corn and soybean crops were doing.

Corn (for grain) harvest is about 50% complete. Although that may not sound that far along, it is about three weeks ahead of last year.

Soybean harvest is much farther along with most of the state over 90% complete. This puts Wisconsin more than four weeks ahead of last year.

If we take it one step further, and compare this year's progress to the five-year average, corn (for grain) harvest is six days ahead of schedule. Soybean harvest is 14 days ahead of schedule.

Although it is good to be ahead of schedule with the harvest, the condition of the crop is what's most important.

For corn (for grain), the condition is about 80% good to excellent statewide, which is about one percentage point higher from the week of October 25th.

The weekly "Wisconsin Crop Progress & Condition" report administered by the United States Department of Agriculture did not include the crop condition for soybeans.

Hopefully, with the dry and warm forecast ahead, that will help farmers be able to spend a lot of time in the fields.