Crop update: 23% of Nebraska corn is in the ground

Good planting progress was made in Nebraska and across the country over the past week.

In Nebraska, USDA said 23 percent of the crop was planted as of yesterday, which is up from 5 percent last week. It is also head of the five-year average of 15 percent planted, although the figure is 1 point behind last year's 24 percent planted at this point.

Nationally, USDA said half of this year's acres were planted. This is up from 19 percent planted last week, 20 percent last year and 22 percent for the five-year average.

Mother Nature has been considerably more friendly toward planting this year! In fact, many of the major corn-producing states have passed the half-way point in planting, including Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Indiana.

While many Nebraska farmers had to shut down for a few days following rain late last week, planters are moving in several parts of the state again today. Since a majority of the state’s corn crop is typically planted between April 25 and May 20, there is plenty of time for the crop to get in the ground.

As for emergence, USDA said 1 percent of Nebraska's corn has emerged from the soil, while nationally this figure stands at 7 percent. A year ago no Nebraska corn had emerged, while nationally only 2 percent had. The five-year average is 5 percent emerged by this date.