Planting Progress Roundup: Part 1
Last week, planting progress picked up with higher temperatures and drier conditions throughout the Corn Belt. According to the latest Crop Progress Report, 49% of the nation’s corn crop is in the ground with 14% emerged. On the soybean side, 30% are planted with 9% emerged. Stine regional sales agronomists (RSAs) also report an uptick in planting in many of their regions. Here are their updates.
Tony Pleggenkuhle, Region 10 RSA (northeastern Iowa, southern Minnesota)
In region 10, corn is 70% complete, and soybeans are roughly 40% complete. The few acres planted in April look good and are emerging evenly due to record-high temperatures and plenty of moisture during the first half of May. Acres planted in the last 10 days started to emerge within five days in some cases. Now, it’s just a matter of getting the rest of the crop to emerge in between periods of rain.
Kevin Ryan, Region 14 RSA (Delta South)
Corn planting is complete in Arkansas and Louisiana. Early-planted corn looks good after some heat, although we're a month behind normal corn planting dates — much of the corn crop was planted in late April and early May. Some growers switched corn acres to cotton, rice or soybeans. The latest-planted corn has had excellent emergence and looks very good. It may surprise us this year since it's off to a great start.
Soybeans have been going in the ground hot and heavy every chance we get between rains. I estimate 50% are planted. Rice and cotton acres are also going in the ground in many areas.
Tanna Parrish, Region 29 RSA (Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia)
Planting in the Southeast has been in full swing these last few weeks. We've caught rain here and there, but crops are out of the ground and look great. We still have some folks wrapping up corn in the northern part of the territory, and soybeans will be going in the ground soon after wheat. We have a few potato growers completing harvest and gearing up to put in Stine products. Cabbage season finished a couple of weeks ago, and corn will be planted on those acres shortly. We have summer weather now with temperatures over 90 degrees, and corn is growing like crazy. It has been a long spring as we had a late frost that hurt or delayed some growers’ crops, followed by inches upon inches of rain. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we're still delivering corn and soybeans to growers trying to get wrapped up.
Todd Oliver, Region 27 RSA (Texas)
Corn in the Rio Grande Valley is in full tassel. The Texas Coastal Bend is in a major drought, and most cotton has failed. The corn is about 3 inches tall and tasseling. Many are waiting on insurance companies to visit. Central Texas needs rain, but most of the corn looks good with some of it starting to tassel. Planting proceeds in the panhandle and South Plains with drought conditions. Irrigation will be necessary.
Paige Harris, Region 15 RSA (Michigan and New York)
Planting has finally started in the region. The late start was due to a wet and cold spring. The weather has warmed up during the last couple of weeks, and everyone is busy planting. Both corn and soybeans are going in the ground at the same time due to the late-season start. Most areas are around 50% done with planting. The ground has been warming up quickly due to above-average temperatures, which will lead to quick emergence once the crop is in the ground.
Kevin Krabel, Region 13 RSA (Central Illinois)
Things got off to a slow start throughout Region 13 with early, cold temperatures and seemingly constant rain showers. Mother Nature gave us a break in the weather over the past week or so, and most growers have taken advantage. We have many growers who are already done planting, some who need a couple more good days to wrap up and some who are about a quarter of the way there or less for various reasons. We have some concerns with how hard the ground got recently, giving the soybeans a hard time emerging. But this last rain hopefully loosened things up enough to reduce the amount of replant we will need. More rain in the forecast this week might slow us down a little, but for the most part (except for growers with double-crop acreage), I think Region 13 will be close to planting completion in the next few weeks.
Stay tuned for more from-the-field updates in next week’s edition of Stine Weekly.