More rains across the Corn Belt this week created deeper planting delays, and it’s causing farmers to grow even more frustrated as they wait on an open window to plant.
The latest look at planting progress came on Monday, with USDA showing 49% of the U.S. corn crop was planted, 5 points behind average. Soybean planting is still 3 percentage points ahead of average, at 35% complete. But farmers across the Midwest haven’t seen a good stretch to plant in nearly three weeks, with some farmers reporting planting hasn’t even started for them.
“It’s top of mind for so many growers, and I hear it when I talk with them on the phone. We’re hearing planting pace is just continuing to linger,” says Naomi Blohm, a senior market advisor with Stewart-Peterson Group Inc., a part of Total Farm Marketing. “We’ll see how far we get on Monday afternoon’s Crop Progress Report. With 49% of corn planted last week, I’m very curious to see if we can get somewhere closer to the 65% level.”
She says producers in parts of Indiana and Ohio haven’t even started planting, and farmers in Iowa report every time they get back in the field and get started planting, rain pushes them out of the field again.
“That just stops them in their tracks, literally,” she says. “So, the market, of course is aware of that. That’s what’s kept things supported for now. And we’re very, very in tune with the slow panting place. I’ve even heard producers talking prevent-plant if it gets to that, because they’re so frustrated.”
Blohm says the market will continue to be aware of the slow planting pace, but says corn, soybeans and wheat all saw bearish reversals on the charts this week. She points out that’s a sign the market is taking a pause before it gets overly excited about any planting delays.
John Payne, a livestock and grain risk management consultant with Advance Trading, Inc., says he recently drove from Chicago to southern Ohio. He says he was able to see planting progress along his route, which included most of Indiana.
“Naomi described it pretty well. I’d say it’s 50/50, at best, in Indiana, and what wasn’t planted just looked rough. I think at this point, it’s a corn problem,” says Payne.
He says soybeans can be planted a little later, and soybeans have a little more wiggle room on the balance sheet.
“I think we’re sideways here for a while in corn,” says Payne. “Volatility is up, so it’s important to note that, but I don’t think we’ve seen call buyers come in, and that’s kind of boosted the market as well. But I don’t think we’ve seen the surge of short covering that could come if there’s a problem this summer.”
