U.S. corn planting progress ahead of 5-year average for 2021 crop

In Washington, D.C., the U.S. Grains Council checked in with corn checkoff organizations and U.S. farmers around the country to get a read on the collective planting progress being made with the U.S. corn crop at the beginning of the 2021 growing season. As of May 9, collective corn planting progress exceeded the five-year average in 13 of the 18 states reporting.

As of May 9, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), overall, in the 18 states reporting, planting has reached 67 percent, two percent ahead of the same time last year. Those same states reported 20 percent of corn has emerged, compared to 22 percent that had emerged this time last year. The 18 states – Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin – make up 92 percent of the 2020 corn acreage.