Market News & Headlines >> Corn Planting Speeds Past Halfway Mark

Near-ideal weather conditions across most of the Corn Belt allowed U.S. producers to plant more than a third of their expected corn acreage last week, according to Monday afternoon’s weekly Crop Progress report from USDA.

USDA pegged U.S. corn planting progress at 55% as of Sunday, up from 19% a week earlier, the year-ago pace of 28% and the five-year average for the date of 38%. U.S. crop emergence was still slightly behind normal at 9% versus the average pace of 12%.

Meanwhile, USDA reported 13% of the U.S. soybean crop had been planted, up from just 2% a week earlier and ahead of the five-year average of 9% and the year-earlier pace of 7%.

Producers in the top corn growing state of Iowa planted 54% of their crop last week, pushing overall progress to 68%, comfortably ahead of the average pace of 39% and last year’s sluggish 22%. The progress was the fastest for the week in more than 20 years, according to the Iowa office of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistic Service.

In the No. 2 growing state of Illinois, producers were able to plant 38% of their corn crop, pushing overall planting progress to 69%, well ahead of the average of 47% and last year’s pace of 41%.  Corn planting is already winding down in Minnesota, where 83% of the crop was in the ground by Sunday in sharp contrast to last year, when just 7% of the state’s crop had been planted.

Some 11% of the Iowa soybean crop had been planted by Sunday, ahead of the average pace of 5%, with 12% of Illinois soybean acreage planted versus the average of 7%. Minnesota producers had already planted 32% of their crop, versus zero last year and an average pace of 7%.