Farmers In Illinois And Iowa Make Impressive Planting Gains In Just One Week

Soybean planting crossed the halfway mark across the U.S, and corn planting is 70% complete. This is in thanks to how the latest USDA Crop Progress Report shows farmers in parts of the U.S. made major headway over the past week.

As of Sunday, May 19, 2024, USDA says:

• 70% of the corn had been planted, a jump of 21 percentage-points since last week
• 52% of the soybeans are now planted, up 17 points in a week
  

Corn planting is still trailing the average pace, but just by 1 point. The large jump in the corn planting pace was aided by major progress in states such as Illinois, where corn planting progress shot up 25 points. Planting in Iowa jumped 21 points the past seven days.

Corn emergence also made progress. USDA says 40% of the U.S. corn crop is now out of the ground, 1 point behind average and 6 points behind last year. However, it’s a 17-point jump from last week when 23% of the crop was emerged.

Soybean planting saw similar gains this past week. USDA says Nebraska farmers saw a 23-point jump in the soybean planting pace across the state. Iowa soybean planting progress increased 22 points, and Illinois farmers saw planting progress jump 10 points in one week.

According to USDA, 26% of the soybean crop is emerged as of Sunday, up 5 points from average, but 5 points behind this time last year. Emergence did improve 10 points since last week.

Planting Progresses for Some, Stalls for Others

The planting story continues to be a frustrating one for some farmers, but for others last week finally provided a window to plant. Northwest Ohio was an area where planting is rolling heavy, according to Noggle Farms.

Not everyone in Ohio saw a big window to plant. According to USDA, Ohio had 2.5 days suitable for field work last week, compared to 2 days the week prior. Missouri was in similar shape, with only 2 days suitable for fieldwork over the past week. Wet weather in Louisiana also stalled out fieldwork, with USDA showing only 2 day suitable for field work last week.

Tractors At A Standstill

The forecast shows more wet weather on the way, which could keep some farmers out of the field part of this week.

The weather outlook could pose problems for farmers wanting to make rapid progress with planting, according to Scott Irwin of the University of Illinois.

The pop-up showers are posing problems for farmers - and researchers- in other areas.

How’s planting progress in your area? Comment in AgWeb’s Crop Comments.