The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service’s (NASS) weekly crop progress report states that 65% of corn and 49% of soybean acres are planted. The 2023 corn planting progress is 20% ahead of last year at this time and 6% ahead of the five-year average (2018–2022). Soybean planting progress is 22% ahead of last year at this time and 13% ahead of the five-year average.
Crop progress in Stine’s regions
With a reach spanning across the country, Stine’s grower customers are busy in the field. Whether they’re still waiting to get soybeans in the ground or are already enjoying the growing season, reports vary from region to region. Here are the latest updates from some of our regional sales agronomists (RSAs) throughout the country.
Dustin Ellis, Region 4 RSA (central, northwest and northeast central Iowa)
Region 4 is about 98% to 100% done with corn and 80% to 90% done with soybean planting. We have had some rain the last few days delay things, but it looks like everyone will be back at it this week. Corn and soybeans both look good for the weather conditions. Even our earliest crops, which were planted in mid-April, look good and have good stands. I attribute this to great genetics and good soil conditions at the time of planting. It seems like our mid-April crops were sitting in cold but dry soils, which I believe is one of the reasons they stayed healthy and emerged with warmer, moist conditions. The early- to mid-planted April crops are the same height as crops planted at the end of April and the first part of May. It will be interesting to see if there’s a yield advantage with early-planted crops. We won’t know until the combines start up in the fall, but I will say that if growers would have waited, in some cases, they would be farther behind now with the later rain events, which could have caused planting corn and soybeans into late May or early June.
Chad Kuehl, Region 5 RSA (southeast Nebraska)
Things are moving along in southeast Nebraska. We have a good number of growers starting to finish up. Corn is around 90% finished, and soybeans are around 70% complete. Overall, the region is still really dry and in need of a good rain.
Jake Anderson, Region 12 RSA (western and central Illinois)
Planting season is mostly wrapped up, and the growing season is underway here in Region 12. The first run of planting in April saw seeds sitting in cold soil for two weeks or more. We've seen some replant situations in the early round of planting due to tough emergence conditions. Overall, things are looking good, and the weather has been mostly favorable. A lot of corn is at the one or two-collar stage, and we’re seeing soybeans put out their first trifoliate leaves.
Kevin Krabel, Region 13 RSA (central Illinois)
We’re around 80% done planting corn and soybeans in Region 13. We just received some much-needed rain that helped soybean emergence in areas where we were on the verge of massive replant needs. Corn emergence seems to be pretty good across the region. Although due to a good portion of the corn being planted in cooler ground temps, it didn’t all come up as evenly as one might like. We’ll have to keep an eye on that throughout the growing season. So far, it’s been the smoothest and quickest planting season in the last four to five years, and everyone should be done in the next few weeks.
Darrin Petty, Region 20 RSA (southwest Iowa, northwest Missouri, northeast and north-central Kansas)
In my region back in April, everybody started planting, and it was nonstop. It wasn’t raining, so everyone kept planting until about a week or so ago when we got some much-needed rain. It was a good break for everybody to get caught up. Most everyone in my region is done planting corn. For soybeans, it varies because some are just starting planting and others have completed. I would estimate we’re about 60% done.
We’ve had an ideal planting season for the most part; the soil has been great! Everybody needed rain though, so it was very welcomed a few weeks back.
Emergence has been going well, but we also received quite a bit of rain in some areas. Some of the popular corn products planted in the region this year are Stine® 9808E (one that always works in our region), 9817-30 and 9752-32. One we’re really excited about is the new 9818-32, so we’ll keep a close eye on it throughout the season. We’ve also spent time working with our agronomy department and sales reps to plant corn and soybean plots, so we look forward to seeing the new products in the pipeline that will be available to growers next year.
Todd Oliver, Region 27 (Texas and Oklahoma)
Corn is in full tassel in south Texas, and planting is complete in central and north Texas. West Texas and the Texas Panhandle are in the process of planting, but dry weather is making it a challenge. In Oklahoma, they are finally getting first-crop beans in the ground, and second-crop beans should start going in the next week or so. Dry weather has also plagued Oklahoma. The last two years have been the driest on record in West Texas and Oklahoma. We are hoping that a shift in weather will be in the farmers’ favor.
What is the USDA Crop Progress Report?
The USDA NASS Crop Progress Report is released every week throughout the busy planting, growing and harvest seasons. The report tracks crop progress by state and includes the 18 states that planted 92% of the corn acreage and 95% of the soybean acreage in 2022. The USDA NASS crop progress report features current week-ending results, the year prior results, and the five-year average for planting, emergence and crop conditions for primary crops throughout the U.S., including corn, soybeans, cotton, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sugar beets, sunflowers, wheat and more.
For more crop progress updates in your region, contact your local Stine RSA.