Weekly crop progress reports came out after the close Monday. Across key states, corn planting was a touch behind expectations, while soybeans were not far off the average estimate. Both were ahead of the five-year average, likely easing any early concern about a slow start.
While wet weather had slowed activity in parts of the Midwest, the “I”-states — Illinois, Iowa and Indiana — saw rapid progress over the past week. Iowa went from just 2% of corn planted as of April 19 to 22% on April 26, in line with the five-year average. Illinois went from 13% to 29%, well ahead of the five-year average of 19%, while Indiana went from 14% to 30%, outpacing the five-year average of 10%.
Iowa soybean plantings were 11% complete, up from 1% a week earlier, still slightly behind the five-year average of 13% for this time of year. Illinois went from 20% on April 19 to 36% on Sunday, well ahead of the 18% average, while Indiana zipped to 35% complete from 19%, smoking the five-year average of 8%.
Here’s the breakdown across key producing states tracked by USDA:
- Corn planted was 25% as of April 26, compared with an average estimate of 29% produced by a Bloomberg survey of analysts. That’s up from 11% last week and ahead of the five-year average of 19%
- Soybean planting was 23% complete versus an average estimate of 22% and up from 12% a week ago; 12% is also the five-year average for this time of year.
- Spring wheat plantings were 19% complete versus an average estimate of 25% and up from 12%, while trailing the five-year average of 22%.
Wheat conditions: And then there’s winter wheat, where 30% of the crop was rated “good” or “excellent,” unchanged from last week. Analysts had expected a slip to 29%, reflecting drought conditions and possible freeze damage to the hard red winter wheat crop in the Plains. While the “good” to “excellent” percentage was unchanged, the percentage of the crop rated “poor” or “very poor” rose from 33% as of April 19 to 35%.
- On the weighted Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (0 to 500-point scale, with 500 being perfect), the HRW crop declined 6.35 points to 264.46, and continues to trend below the condition ratings for this time last year. The SRW crop remains in relatively better conditions but still declined 0.97 points to 359.67. Areas of Illinois, Ohio, and parts of the Southeast U.S. received rains over the weekend helped the rating remain near steady.