According to the USDA’s weekly Crop Progress Report released on May 18, 2026, the nationwide planting pace for both corn and soybeans is running well ahead of historical averages.
The National Snapshot
- Corn: 76% complete nationwide (6 points ahead of the 5-year average of 70%).
- Soybeans: 67% complete nationwide (14 points ahead of the 5-year average of 53%).
Farmers in much of the country are cruising through planting. But in several regions farmers are battling with weather and stuck staring at parked planters and ticking clocks. Rain and wet soils have created three major logjams across the Corn Belt:
1. The Great Lakes Region (Michigan & Northwest Ohio)
- Michigan: In central Michigan, back-to-back rains have kept growers out of fields for long stretches, leaving the state trailing most of the Corn Belt in planting progress, according to Michigan Farm Bureau.
- Northern Ohio: Persistent spring precipitation and ponding have caused significant delays. Conversely, southern Ohio has enjoyed drier windows and is nearing planting completion, according to Jason Hartschuh, Ohio State University Extension agronomy field specialist.
2. Mid-Mississippi Valley (Missouri)
- Missouri: Pockets of the state are coming off multiple consecutive weeks of cool, wet weather that left low-lying fields waterlogged and halted progress, reports Gurbir Singh, University of Missouri Extension state agronomy specialist.
3. Isolated Pockets of the Central Midwest (Illinois)
- Illinois: While some areas are dusty and dry, central and northern pockets of the state were hammered by 3 to 4 inches of rain in brief spans over the last week to 10 days, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.
Corn Strategy: Stick to the Plan (For Now)
As calendar pressure builds, farmers often consider switching corn hybrids and soybean maturities. However, Mike Hannewold, field agronomist for Beck’s Hybrids, warns that abandoning your original corn and soybean plans could be the biggest mistake you can make right now.
“We want to stick with the original plan, unless we’re really doing something extreme with 115‑day corn, or something excessive like that,” says Ohio-based Hannewold.
Here is why the data says you should hold the line through the rest of May:
- The GDU “Cheat” Code: Research from Ohio State and Purdue University shows that for every day after May 1, there is a 6.8 Growing Degree Unit (GDU) reduction in the total number of GDUs corn needs to reach black layer. The corn detects it is late and actually accelerates its vegetative growth.
- The ROI on Full-Season Genetics: Granted, late-planted corn will be wetter at harvest, but Practical Farm Research (PFR) data shows the yield advantage of fuller-season hybrids will cover the drying costs and then some.
A 3-year PFR study factoring in drying costs at 4 cents per point revealed significant penalties for switching to early maturities too soon. As indicated in the chart below, going from a 112-day hybrid to a 105-day hybrid reduced the net return by $63. Some of the other options show more extreme results.
Hannewold draws the line at June 1. Once June arrives, he says it’s time to run GDU calculations to ensure your corn crop can reach black layer before the first fall frost for your area.
Soybean Strategy: Keep Maturity, Push Populations
For soybeans, Hannewold’s advice is identical on maturity but carries a critical management twist: leave your varieties in place, but crank up the seeding rate.
Data shows full-season bean varieties consistently outyield short-season options because they have more calendar time to grow. However, late-planted beans lose time to build critical nodes and pods. To compensate for that issue, he says you must pull the population lever.
Starting about now (May 20), he advises increasing your soybean planting population by 10,000 seeds per acre, per week. For example:
- Week of May 20: If your base is 130,000, bump to 140,000.
- Following Week: Bump to 150,000, and so on.
- The Ceiling: Top out around 200,000 for a planter, or 220,000 for a drill if planting drags deep into June.
The Golden Rule: Conditions Trump The Calendar
Even though the clock is ticking, Hannewold reminds growers that “mudding it in” is a losing proposition for planting either crop.
“Planting too wet into poor conditions and causing uneven emergence actually costs us more later in the season than what it did early, and that plays true for both corn and beans,” he says.
