This week, planting is expected to surge as drier weather begins to set up across the Midwest. USDA now says corn planting is 40% completed nationally. That’s 1% ahead of the 5-year average. States like Illinois and Iowa continue to run behind average with Illinois just a third done.
Meanwhile, soybean planting is 30% done. That’s seven points ahead of the 5-year average as the “I” states and Nebraska made big jumps in just a week’s time.
The farmers along our “Plant Your Independence Tour” say the weather has been a mixed bag this spring.
In Wataga, Ill., Rod Parkinson is done planting both corn and soybeans. He sent this picture of the corn we showed him planting last week, now popping through the soil. Rod says temperatures are warming up, and it looks like there’s going to be a good planting window this week for folks to get back in the field.
In central Illinois, Brent Johnson says his area in Ashland keeps getting rain. So far, they have about 75% of their corn and soybeans planted. If they can get five solid days, they should be able to finish up.
“The crop looks pretty good,” Johnson says. “It could use some sun and some heat, but uniformity looks good because we’ve seen slow drawn-out emergence. Once we get some heat and sun, these crops will just take off.”
Over in Ogden, Iowa, Ward Hunter says rains have been spotty. Since Good Friday, they’ve received anywhere from 2.5" to 7" of rain. He finished planting soybeans last week, adding that most farmers in his area will finish planting this week.
“I think it’s maybe the third earliest we’ve ever been done,” Hunter says. “I can probably take my wife out for Mother’s Day, and that usually doesn’t happen very often.”
In Shell Rock, Jeff Reints says it was a great week for planting. Fields are drying off after 5" to 7" of rain. They have 20% of corn and 20% of soybeans left to plant. Jeff thinks this week’s dry forecast will help them finish up.
“We should have everything wrapped up here by probably Wednesday on corn and Thursday on beans,” Reints adds.
He says the early crops they planted in April are already up and looking good.
Mike Madsen of Heron Lake, Minn., was out planting on Tuesday. That follows a few days of waiting for rain and fields to dry out. He says they’re in the home stretch.
“We’re on our last cornfield,” Madsen says. “The soybean planter is running, and it has been running since Sunday or a couple of days ago. Corn will be finished up today, and I would assume, by the end of the week, beans will be in the ground as well.”
He says they’re a couple of weeks ahead and emergence looks really good.
In Wisconsin, 16% of corn and 17% of soybeans are now planted. That puts beans ahead and corn behind the 5-year average for this time of year.
Casey Kelleher, of Whitewater, spent several days on the sidelines this past week, waiting for fields to dry out. Last week a gentle half-inch rain was just what the team needed after running hard since mid-April.
“We’ve been going for a week straight and this gives everybody a break, mentally and physically,” Kelleher says. “It also gives us a little bit of time to make sure the machinery’s all up to snuff. If you’re neglecting something or need to do some greasing, then we can get caught up on those things.”
A spring of fits and starts follows a beneficial winter for this Wisconsin operation.
“We wish we could have had more moisture, but by not having the snow, we had some cold stretches and that did wonders for the soil conditions,” Kelleher says.
Those great soil conditions are helping crops go in smoothly. This short rain delay won’t put things too far behind.
They, like so many others this year, are focused on the fundamentals of farming and the challenges posed by tight balance sheets.
“We didn’t cut back on the stuff that we felt that was most important,” Kelleher says. “Genetics are something you can’t cut back on. Fertilizer we didn’t cut back on. There was some ground we didn’t work as much in the fall as we normally do, and so we’re trying to do more minimum tillage this spring to save money that way.”
Ultimately, Kelleher says it’s about getting good yields in these tough market years.
“With prices the way they are, it’s why we rotated a little bit,” he adds. “We felt we could do a little better on corn given where the price is right now when compared to beans.”
Battered prices and planting delays aren’t strangers to the Kelleher crew. His family has been farming here for generations.
“My grandpa came over and homesteaded it in 1842. I still have the homestead papers from President Polk,” Kelleher says.
History will continue even on days when planters are stopped. Soon, this team in Waterwater will see puddles gone and tractors rolling.
“We have probably two days of corn left and two or three days of beans left to finish up,” he says. “There’s also a little bit of spraying to touch up, and then we’ll watch everything come up while we wait to start a second pass of herbicide. We are on the backside of the season and winding down.”
Casey says drier weather this week has them back spraying and planting. They hope to mostly wrap up by the end of the week.
