Drought
This ranks as the fifth worst crop in history and it’s mainly tied to the fact 68% of the crop is in some level of drought. For Kansas, it could be as bad as 2023.
The nation’s corn crop is currently 11% planted, sitting 2 points ahead of the five-year average. Although many Illinois farmers are waiting to plant because of wet conditions, much of the latest national crop progress comes from Illinois and Indiana.
Tim Webster and Steve Crothers share their cropping plans, telling Ken Ferrie they hope to bounce back this season from record low rainfall and extreme heat in 2025.
Reaching levels rarely seen since 2013, historic dryness grips the eastern Corn Belt, the Southeast and into the western Plains. With 68% of winter wheat in drought, producers face potential abandonment.
DuWayne Bosse with Bolt Marketing says funds are buying and covering short positions due to expanded drought in hard red winter wheat country on Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor and the lower crop conditions.
A fast-developing El Niño could bring much-needed rain to the Plains, but timing and coverage remain uncertain. Brian Bledsoe explains what a strong event could mean for drought relief.
With wheat barely a foot tall, the flag leaf is already emerging—a sign the crop is rushing to reproduce under stress, leaving too little structure to support a harvest. Less than 10% may be harvested in West Texas.
In Texas, for example, more than half of the winter wheat is rated poor to very poor. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says the state recently endured its fourth-driest stretch from September to February in the last 131 years.
Agronomist Eric Beckett shares strategies for managing tillage, product applications and budgets despite what’s shaping up to be a dry and potentially windy spring.
While an unexpected March freeze is causing some farmers in Mississippi to replant corn, a mild spring is spurring early planting, with some farmers reporting they’ll finish planting corn by the end of this week.