With last week’s warm and mostly dry weather farmers sped ahead on planting across the Corn Belt.
USDA’s crop progress report showed Minnesota led the pace with 75% of the corn now planted, 14% ahead of the five-year average.
Soybeans are over half done and 15% ahead of normal.
Southern Minnesota Nearly Done Planting
2025 has been a record setting planting season for Mike Madsen and many farmers in Southern Minnesota.
“It will be the earliest planting in our in our location and I think if you go 50 miles around us to the west and the south it’s probably even quicker,” he says.
With extreme cold and very little snow cover over the winter, the Heron Lake farmer says spring field conditions couldn’t have been better, even for his no-till seed customers.
“Soil conditions are so good that they got in early and they finished their planting mostly in April I believe.”
Planting Season Stark Contrast to 2024
In 2024 Madsen got this same field planted late and then in June received 15 inches of rain in two days.
“The field that we’re in right now today is an 80 acre field and I think 40 of it we lost to flooding,” he explains.
That was followed by flash drought.
Yet, at the Madsen farm they still harvested close to average crops.
So he’s optimistic about yield potential with this spring’s faster start.
“We’re looking for record, I would say, trend line to record yields if we can get the moisture,” he adds.
Agronomically Shooting for Record Yields
Madsen also pushes his corn populations gunning for higher production.
“I’m pushing 37 (37,000) now on some of these varieties that that are a determinant ear that need the ear count out there.”
However, he and many of his customers kept their normal rotations. They’re bucking the trend as USDA estimates farmers in Minnesota intend to switch 400,000 acres of soybeans into corn.
“Personally, we stick with rotations. It just works better for both crops.”
With the recent above normal temperatures, Madsen’s early corn has already emerged.
“We have seen it pop out of the ground within a day or two from nothing to rowing the corn in two days. So, that that’s that’s huge for yield potential to get it out of the ground in the first week of May that’s almost unheard of.”
With the jump start he’s also hoping to beat heat stress and predicted drought for his area during critical reproductive stage for corn.
The soil profile is three-fourths full, so he thinks he’ll be okay for pollination.
And Madsen needs to bushel up to make up for even slimmer margins than in 2024.
“Currently, very tight. That’s why we’re all happy to see the crop in the ground and growing, hoping for a good yield to make up for the price that we can’t seem to get off where it’s been the last year or so,” he says.
Nationally Corn and Soybean Planting Has Sped Ahead of Average
Nationally corn planting is now well past the halfway mark with 62% of the crop planted, that’s 6% ahead of the five-year average.
Soybeans are also much further along with 48% now planted, that’s 11% ahead of the norm.
Many farmers on our “Plant Your Independence” tour have already wrapped up planting.
Rod Parkinson, Wataga, Illinois
In Western Illinois, Rod Parkinson says corn is growing fast thanks to heat and plenty of GDUs at his farm near Wataga.
He says anything planted last week, is emerging in 6-to-7days.
He estimates 98% of the corn in his area is planted and nearly 100% of the soybeans.
Casey Kelleher, Whitewater, Wisconsin
Weather continues to be a roller coaster in Whitewater Wisconsin for Casey Kelleher.
We visited his farm last week, while he was stopped for rain.
Since then they’ve finished planting.
A lot of the corn is up with good stands and good color.
Ward Hunter, Ogden, Iowa
Heading into Iowa...as we told you last week, Ward Hunter in the central part of the state has also finished planting, and he says the crops look really good.
They’ve been fortunate to have no replant so far this spring.
However, he’s hearing a lot of crusting in west central and northwest Iowa, which is forcing replant on some soybeans in those areas.
Temperatures are forecast to reach near 90 degrees on Wednesday... and if they don’t get any moisture this week, they’ll definitely need a good rain by next week.
Jeff Reints, Shell Rock, Iowa
In the northeast part of the state...Jeff Reints says he finished planting at the end of last week.
Most farmers in the area are done with corn and have only 10%-to-15% of the soybeans left to seed.
With above normal temps crops are emerging quickly, but he says there will be about 5% replant in fields hit by heavy rains that sat in saturated soils too long.
Brent Johnson, Ashland, Illinois
And Brent Johnson in Ashland, Illinois says he finished planting earlier this week.
Out of all the farmers we talked to on the tour this year, he’d normally be one of the first ones to finish.
But it’s been an odd spring with very sporadic rains. That’s caused planting to happen in small doses, versus one long stretch.
