USDA: Spring Crop Progress Ahead of Schedule

The latest USDA Crop Progress Report shows strong planting and emergence numbers across major U.S. crops as of May 25, with corn, soybeans, spring wheat, and oats all tracking ahead of the five-year average. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey said this year’s corn crop is showing early promise. “We’ve had a good planting season until now, and we’ve had a lot of warmth until recently, and that has put this crop in a state where we are at 68 percent good to excellent, just 5 percent very poor to poor,” said Rippey. Corn is 87 percent planted, with 67 percent emerged. Soybeans reached 76 percent planted, ahead of the 68 percent average and last year’s 66 percent. “We saw double-digit planting progress during the week in 13 of our 18 reporting states,” said Rippey. “We have now exceeded the 90 percent planting mark in four states—Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska in the Midwest and Louisiana in the South.” Spring wheat is 87 percent planted, with 60 percent emerged. Oats are 94 percent planted and 81 percent emerged. Winter wheat is 75 percent headed, with half the crop rated good to excellent.