From March to May 2026, Mexico's maize production was in a transitional phase between the harvest of the autumn-winter maize and the sowing of the spring-summer main-season maize. At the time of the previous monitoring, most of the autumn-winter maize had already been harvested, and continuous tracking from May to June showed that most plots in the northwestern main production area, such as Sinaloa, had been converted to fallow land. Therefore, the focus of this monitoring period has shifted to the sowing progress of the main-season maize.

In terms of the main maize distribution areas, sowing conditions for the main-season maize from March to May 2026 showed an overall divergence. The regions with the greatest impact on national sowing were mainly the temperate semi-humid zone and the subtropical–tropical zone. Among these, the temperate semi-humid zone corresponds to the core main-season maize production area in the central region. During the monitoring period, precipitation was slightly above average and temperatures were close to normal, which was generally favorable for soil moisture formation and sowing initiation, resulting in generally good sowing conditions for the main-season maize. In the subtropical–tropical zone, corresponding to parts of the southern and southeastern maize distribution areas, precipitation was below average and temperatures were above average, which may lead to sowing delays and uneven emergence in late-planted plots.

According to CropWatch remote sensing monitoring, as of mid-to-late June, the sown area of main-season maize in Mexico was approximately 4,892,000 hectares, mainly distributed in the south-central regions (Figure 1). Some plots have yet to complete sowing, and continued attention to sowing progress is needed in the coming period.

Figure 1. Distribution Map of Main-Season Maize in Mexico, June 2026