#Plant2026 for Success
You’ve weighed the agronomics and the economics — and now the planter is rolling. The decisions don’t stop, though. The weather changes plans, equipment breaks and pests pop up. Every step plays a role in the success of your planting season as well as the growing and harvest seasons to come.
Surprising Cut to Corn Yields and North Dakota’s Planting Nightmare Show Crop Supplies are Shrinking
Despite USDA releasing a forecast for a record soybean crop for a second year in a row on Thursday, soybean prices skyrocketed Friday. USDA trimmed the national average corn yield, yet corn prices closed lower Friday.
Farmland in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska, for example, have seen 30% to 40% year-over-year moves up in price. One expert sees no land price weakness anywhere in the U.S. but shares how that could change.
The latest USDA Crop Progress Report data shows planting is off to the slowest start in nine years with only 22% of the nation’s corn crop planted as of Sunday, May 8. Soybean planting progress currently sits at 12%.
Be proactive and go to the field sooner rather than later. Once that crust hardens, it can hinder or even prevent crop emergence. Either or both will cost you money.
U.S. corn planting progress is off to its slowest start since 2013. With only 14% of the corn crop in the field as of May 1, Dan Basse of AgResource Company thinks a record U.S. corn yield is already off the table.
It’s also time to consider switching to corn planting if you are unable to plant corn and soybeans simultaneously. Beware of salt-burn risks in spring strip tillage, and start checking soybeans for bean leaf beetles.
When you plant corn does matter, but there are in-season factors that play a significant role in final outcomes as well, according to USDA and agronomists.
As of May 1, USDA estimates 14% of the U.S. corn crop has been planted. That compares to a five-year average of 33% planted.
A state that battled widespread drought last spring has seen a nearly 180-degree turn around with weather recently, as a steady stream of moisture is preventing North Dakota farmers from planting so far this year.
Above all other years, 2022 is the year we need to be left alone to do what we know how to do best: feed, clothe and fuel our country and the world, says Caleb Hamer.