Crop progress: Corn planters are rollingCrop progress: Corn planters are rolling

The latest crop progress report from USDA, out Monday afternoon and covering the week through April 16, showed some uneven corn planting progress as snowy weather continues to plague parts of the upper Midwest and Northern Plains. USDA also offered its first soybean planting data for the 2023 season and revealed steady winter wheat quality conditions from a week ago.

Corn planting progress reached 8% last week, up from the prior week’s tally of 3%. That’s a bit slower than analysts were expecting after offering an average trade guess of 10% ahead of today’s report. Texas leads the way, with 65% completion, while Missouri is trending well above historical averages after making it to 30%. Meantime, six of the top 18 production states, including Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Dakota, have yet to make any measurable progress so far.

Soybean plantings are just getting underway, with a nationwide average of 4%. That’s better than the prior five-year average of 2% and also two points ahead of the average trade guess. Southern States Louisiana (30%) and Mississippi (23%) are leading the charge so far. Seven of the top 18 production states have yet to make measurable progress, however.

Other regional crops have made some initial planting progress as well, including:

Winter wheat quality ratings held steady from the prior week, with 27% of the crop in good-to-excellent condition through April 16. Another 34% is rated fair (down two points from last week), with the remaining 39% rated poor or very poor (up two points from last week). In Kansas, the country’s top winter wheat producer, only 14% of the crop is rated in good-to-excellent condition.

Physiologically, 10% of the crop is now headed, up from 7% a week ago and two points ahead of the prior five-year average. Regional differences are quite apparent, with only seven of the top 18 production states showing measurable progress at this time.

Click here to read more highlights from the latest UDSA crop progress report.