Nebraska's corn crop 14 percent planted

Nebraska farmers had 14 percent of the state's corn crop planted as of yesterday, which is 10 points ahead of last year's pace, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. That's up from 4 percent planted last week and the five-year average of 9 percent planted as of this date.

If you follow USDA's estimate that Nebraska farmers will plant 10.3 million acres of corn this year, then Nebraska farmers have planted about 1.4 million acres of corn so far, a great start considering the report is only through April 22. Yet with good weather across the state over the next couple of days, the planting figure will jump significantly by next week.

A few reports from the field indicate that some farmers may complete planting by mid-week this week.

USDA also said today that 1 percent of the state's corn crop had emerged. This is well ahead of last year and the average, both of which were at zero last year, or as USDA notes in its reports: "–".

Nationally, 28 percent of the corn crop is planted, up from 17 percent last week and the five-year average of 15 percent. A year ago only 8 percent of the crop was planted.

In states that saw major delays last year (and in some cases for the last two years), farmers have been moving quickly for a couple of weeks. For example, Illinois is already 59 percent planted, which is up from 10 percent last year and the average of 17 percent. Indiana is 46 percent planted, up from 2 percent last year and the average of 10 percent, and Ohio is 34 percent planted, up from 1 percent last year and the average of 8 percent.

Iowa is only 9 percent planted, which triple last year's pace but still 5 points behind the average of 16 percent planted by this date. Minnesota is 11 percent planted, which is great compared to zero last year, but it's still just behind the five-year average of 12 percent.

As for emergence nationally, USDA said 9 percent of the crop is up and growing, a big increase from last year's and the five-year average of 2 percent.