Grain hauling season calendar: harvest windows by crop and state

Harvest windows by crop and state

These are USDA's usual dates: the begin date is when about 5% of the crop is harvested, the end date when about 95% is, and the most active period is the busy middle, all built from survey data and industry specialists. Source The latest edition is from 2010, so newer planting habits and weather in any given year can shift a window by a week or two. For the current season, pair this calendar with USDA's weekly Crop Progress report.

How to read the calendar

Read it as a map of where grain trucks will be needed and when. Wheat harvest moves north from Texas in late May to Montana and Washington in August, which is why custom harvesters and their trucks follow it. Fall harvest is different: soybeans and corn in the Corn Belt come off in the same weeks across many states, so demand for trucks spikes everywhere at once and local hauling fills up fast.

The volume behind those windows is huge. US farms produced 17.02 billion bushels of corn, 4.26 billion bushels of soybeans, 1.98 billion bushels of wheat and 437 million bushels of sorghum in 2025. Source Most of it moves by truck at least once, from field to bin or elevator.

Grain hauling through the year

On the job: planning around harvest

• Position early. Be near the crop a few days before the most active window opens; elevators book trucks that are already close.
• Know the hours rule. In the planting and harvest periods each state sets, drivers hauling agricultural commodities within 150 air-miles of the source are exempt from federal hours-of-service rules. Source
• Watch weight. Grain is dense; a full hopper can reach the 80,000 lb Interstate gross limit before it is full Source, and axle groups must pass the bridge formula. Source Some states grant harvest weight allowances on their own roads; check before you load heavy.
• Expect lines. Elevator lines at peak can run for hours, so price harvest runs by the hour or the load, not just the mile.

Following the wheat

A hopper bottom starts in north Texas as wheat harvest picks up in early June, moves to Oklahoma for its June 6 to June 27 peak, then into Kansas for June 20 to July 5. By mid-July it reaches Nebraska, and in August the Dakotas' spring wheat. Then it heads back to the Corn Belt for soybeans in late September. That route keeps the truck near grain for four months; the gaps between windows are where planned backhauls of fertilizer or feed matter.

Using the weekly Crop Progress report

USDA releases Crop Progress every Monday afternoon during the growing season, with the share of each crop planted, mature and harvested by state, next to last year and the five-year average. When a state's harvested figure runs well behind average, its most active window will land later than this calendar shows, and trucks there will be busy later. When it runs ahead, the rush comes early. A dispatcher planning a harvest run checks it every week from late summer on.

Methodology

All dates come from USDA NASS "Field Crops Usual Planting and Harvesting Dates," Agricultural Handbook 628, released October 29, 2010, the latest edition. We selected the leading states for each crop and copied their begin, most active and end dates. 2025 production comes from the NASS Crop Production 2025 Summary. The CSV holds the same rows. We review this page every year and before each harvest.

More on the trade in grain trucks, bulk hauling and hauling, explained by rig. Livestock haulers plan around the same calendar; see livestock dispatch. And keep your hopper legal for the busy months with the annual inspection due date tracker. More at GearLoads.