Only 13 percent of the nation's corn crop has been planted according to USDA's most recent Crop Progress released May 2. This year's cool, wet spring weather has limited farmers' ability to work fields and plant crops especially when compared to last year's unusually warm spring when 66 percent of the corn crop was planted at this point. Even compared to the five-year average, planting is well behind the 40 percent mark for the beginning of May.
Even more alarming, the nation's top two corn states - Iowa and Illinois - which produce one-third of the nation's corn crop have planted less than the 13 percent national average reported May 2. As of May 1, only 8 percent of Iowa's corn is in the ground with Illinois having planted 10 percent of its crop. In other top five corn states: Nebraska has 15 percent planted; Minnesota, 1 percent; and Indiana, 2 percent. Meanwhile, the seventh-ranked state, South Dakota, has 2 percent planted while eighth-ranked Ohio has 1 percent of its crop in the ground.
In Wisconsin, which ranks ninth for corn harvested for grain and first for corn silage, only 1 percent of its crop is in the ground. Having driven from Janesville, Wis., to Rochester Minn., on Monday, members of the Hoard's Dairyman editorial team saw little signs of tillage or manure application along I-90 and I-94. Also, countless news reports indicate the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are at their highest levels since the 1920s and 1930s. Rich cropland in those regions will take a long time to dry out and be ready for planting.
To read more about the nation's planting season, download USDA's May 2 Crop Progress Report. Click here
Even more alarming, the nation's top two corn states - Iowa and Illinois - which produce one-third of the nation's corn crop have planted less than the 13 percent national average reported May 2. As of May 1, only 8 percent of Iowa's corn is in the ground with Illinois having planted 10 percent of its crop. In other top five corn states: Nebraska has 15 percent planted; Minnesota, 1 percent; and Indiana, 2 percent. Meanwhile, the seventh-ranked state, South Dakota, has 2 percent planted while eighth-ranked Ohio has 1 percent of its crop in the ground.
In Wisconsin, which ranks ninth for corn harvested for grain and first for corn silage, only 1 percent of its crop is in the ground. Having driven from Janesville, Wis., to Rochester Minn., on Monday, members of the Hoard's Dairyman editorial team saw little signs of tillage or manure application along I-90 and I-94. Also, countless news reports indicate the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are at their highest levels since the 1920s and 1930s. Rich cropland in those regions will take a long time to dry out and be ready for planting.
To read more about the nation's planting season, download USDA's May 2 Crop Progress Report. Click here
