Nebraska average yield estimate holds at 160 bushels per acre

In its crop production report released this morning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that Nebraska corn yields would average 160 bushels per acre this year, resulting in a 1.52 billion bushel crop, the second largest crop ever produced in the state.

The yield estimate was unchanged from last month but is 6 bushels below last year. Total production, however, is greater than year ago because more acres were planted and harvested this year.

Nationally, USDA pegged yields at 146.7 bushels per acre, the lowest since 2003-04 and 1.4 bushels below last month’s estimate. That puts total U.S. production at 12.31 billion bushels, off from last month’s estimate of 12.44 billion. (See below.)

Lower production numbers, however, only dropped ending stocks 23 million bushels to 843 million bushels, according to USDA’s supply and demand report. Some of the difference in crop size and ending stocks was made up by a 100 million bushel drop in feed use, with a reduction in broiler production being cited specifically.

An estimated average farm price for the year was left unchanged in a range of $6.20 to $7.20 per bushel. (Last year's average was set at $5.18 per bushel.)

Earlier this week, USDA said 87 percent of Nebraska’s second-largest corn crop was harvested.

Thanks to many good stretches of weather, harvest this year occurred at a fairly quick pace – well ahead of the 66 percent five-year average. The quick harvest pace is allowing farmers to get fall field work done in preparation for planting come spring.

For details on Nebraska’s top crop, check out the Nebraska Corn Board’s Crop Progress Update online.

This week's photos come from the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set at Flickr. They was submitted by a member of the Howells-Clarkson FFA Chapter.

Corn production and balance sheet (click for a larger image):

Nebraska corn harvest at halfway point

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 49 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was in the bin. That's 10 points ahead of the five-year average and with soybean harvest nearly complete, the corn harvest rate will only accelerate.

Harvest is behind last year's 71 percent complete at this point...but last fall was certainly unusual and was nearly double the five-year average at the time.

The opposite of that? Just two years ago only about 15 percent of the crop was harvested by this point!

The bottom line – harvest has progressed well, as there have been only a couple of rainy days to slow farmers down this month. The dry weather – plus a hard freeze across much of the state last week – is helping the corn dry down nicely in the field.

Yield reports from Nebraska farmers have generally been very positive and a state average yield of 160 bushels per acre, for a 1.52 billion bushel crop, certainly seems plausible. If realized it would be the second largest crop in the state's history and just off the record 1.58 billion bushels produced in 2009.

Yields last year reached 166 bushels per acre and total corn production was 1.47 billion bushels.

Nationally, USDA said 65 percent of the country's corn crop was in the bin. That's 14 points ahead of last year and 16 points behind last year's scorching pace.


This week's photo comes from the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set at Flickr. It was submitted by a member of the Howells-Clarkson FFA Chapter.

Nebraska corn yields, production stay on track for second-largest crop

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest crop production estimate left Nebraska's corn yield  estimate unchanged from last month at 160 bushels per acre. Total production was lowered marginally to 1.52 billion bushels due to 150,000 fewer planted and harvested acres.

If realized it would be the second largest crop in the state's history and just off the record 1.58 billion bushels produced in 2009.

Yields last year reached 166 bushels per acre and total corn production was 1.47 billion bushels.

As for crop progress, USDA said yesterday that Nebraska farmers had harvested 19 percent of the state's corn crop as of Oct. 9. That figure is nearly even with with 20 percent five-year average but is off from last year's 27 percent harvested at this point.

USDA said 33 percent of the corn crop has been harvested across the country, which is 1 point ahead of average but 17 points behind last year's blistering pace.

Nationally, USDA forecast corn production at 12.43 billion bushels, down 1 percent from last month and just a hair below last year's 12.45. If realized, though, it will still be the fourth largest production total on record.

USDA left its yield estimated the same as last month – 148.1 bushels per acre. It did drop harvested acres, though, to 83.9 million, down 1 percent from the September forecast.

In it's WASDE report (.pdf) today, USDA raised beginning stocks for 2011/12 by 208 million bushels from last month based on its September stocks estimate. Corn supplies for 2011/12 were forecast 144 million bushels higher. Total U.S. corn use for 2011/12 was projected 50 million bushels lower due to reduced exports – there's more global competition from the Black Sea region.

The bottom line: U.S. ending stocks were projected 194 million bushels higher at 866 million and the season-average farm price moved 30 cents per bushel lower on both ends of the range to $6.20 to $7.20 per bushel.

This week's photos come from the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set at Flickr. The top one is from the Howells-Clarkson FFA Chapter and the bottom one is from the Sumner Eddyville Miller (SEM) FFA Chapter.

Harvest getting underway in Nebraska

With sunny, dry weather of late, some fields have dried down enough that farmers have started harvest, including Nebraska Corn Board farmer-director Mark Jagels of Davenport.

In fact, the photos on this post are from a video he posted on Facebook.

You can watch the videos on the Nebraska Corn Board's Facebook page: Facebook.com/NebraskaCornBoard.

As for specific numbers, in it's weekly crop progress report today, USDA said Nebraska farmers had harvested 6 percent of the state's corn crop as of Sept. 25. That’s on par with the five-year average and 3 points behind last year when the crop matured and dried down very quickly (and early).

USDA said 52 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was mature, off 5 points from average. Dry, warmer weather this week will advance that figure quickly.

As for crop condition, 76 percent of the state's corn crop was rated good to excellent, with 17 percent fair. Nationally, that figure stood at 52 percent, with 28 percent fair – a year ago the national ratings were 68 percent good to excellent and 21 percent fair.

For national harvest figures, 15 percent of the crop was in the bin, 1 point behind the five-year average and 9 points behind last year's early crop. USDA said 63 percent of the nation's crop was mature, 1 point behind average and 20 points behind last year.

Nebraska corn farmers stay within reach of record crop

Weather issues during the growing season were behind USDA's move to lower its estimated Nebraska corn yield to 160 bushels per acre in today's crop production report. That's 6 bushels below last month's estimate and 6 bushels below yields Nebraska farmers saw last year.

If such yields are realized, Nebraska farmers will produce a 1.54 billion bushel crop, which would be the second-largest on record for the state and off just a hair from the record 1.58 billion bushels produced in 2009.

Despite the drop in its yield estimate, USDA's crop progress report still shows the state's overall corn crop to be in great condition. That report, out this afternoon, pegs 76 percent of Nebraska's corn crop as good to excellent, with 17 percent fair and only 7 percent poor to very poor.

As for maturity, USDA said only 9 percent of the state's corn crop was mature as of September 11. That's off from last year's 23 percent mature and the five-year average of 20 percent mature as of this point. A year ago, 2 percent of the state's crop has been harvested by Sept. 12; we need some warm, dry weather before that will happen, although some areas are getting close.

Nationally, 53 percent of the crop was in good to very good condition, with 27 percent fair and 20 percent poor to very poor. Meanwhile, 29 percent was mature, compared to 50 percent last year and the five-year average of 33 percent.

As for national yields, USDA lowered it's estimate today to 148.1 bushels per acre, down 4.9 bushels from its August forecast and down 4.7 bushels from last year. The drop was a bit more than anticipated but within range. If harvested acres are as forecast, that will put overall national production and 12.5 billion bushels.

While smaller than last month's estimated 12.9 billion bushels, the crop would be slightly larger than last year's and would still be the third largest on record.

The National Corn Growers Association noted the many events over the growing season that impacted yields — from heat and drought to hail and floods — and yet farmers may still produce the third largest crop on record.

Only 10 years ago, the average national yield was 138 bushels per acre and production totaled only 9.5 billion bushels. The decade before that, the average yield reached 107 bushels per acre nationally and production totaled only 7.5 billion bushels. Even as estimates are revised down to account for the damage done to the 2011 crop by weather, the strides made through innovative technology and techniques continually allow growers to excel even under difficult circumstances, NCGA said.

While USDA did lower U.S. corn ending stocks 672 million bushels (down from its 714 million bushel estimate last month) in its supply and demand report (.pdf), global corn ending stocks actually increased 114 million bushels from August, with increases in South America and Europe more than offsetting the reduction projected in the U.S.

This week's photos come to the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set at Flickr. The top one is from the Howells-Clarkson FFA Chapter and the bottom one is from the SEM FFA Chapter.

Nebraska corn crop 77% good to excellent, 51% dented

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 51 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was dented, a 20-point jump from last week, although that number is 10 points behind the five-year average and 16 points behind last year.

Corn in the dough stage reached 93 percent, which is 1 point ahead of average but 5 points behind last year. Corn rated mature entered the charts at 1 percent, off from the 3 percent average and last year’s 2 percent.

As for overall crop condition, USDA said 77 percent of Nebraska's crop was rated good to excellent, which is up 2 points from two weeks ago. That leaves 16 percent of the crop as fair and 7 percent as poor to very poor.

The Midwest crop tour organized by Pro Farmer wrapped up last week. The editors estimated Nebraska’s corn yield at 165 bushels per acre for this year, which is 1 bushel per acre below USDA’s August estimate for the state.

The Pro Farmer editors said Nebraska had good ear length and solid weight but that there were some missing years, with ear counts down about 2 percent from last year. Yet should that 165 bushels be realized, Nebraska farmers would still harvest a record 1.59 billion bushel crop (USDA’s August estimate was 1.60 billion bushels).

Harvest will soon be upon us — and all the various yield estimates circulating can be put to rest with some solid harvest data and real yields straight from the field.

This week's photos come from the Nebraska Corn Board's Chinese Trade Team set on Flickr. The trade team was on a portion of the Pro Farmer crop tour, including the leg that went through Nebraska (click for more). Along the way they stopped at Dave Nielsen's farm near Lincoln. Nielsen is a member of the Nebraska Corn Board.
 

Dave Nielsen (fourth from left) and his dad Wayne (center)
with the trade team from China.

Nebraska corn rated 75% good to excellent, 10% dented

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 75 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop was rated good to excellent as of August 14, with 18 percent of the crop rated fair and 7 percent poor to very poor.

USDA said 10 percent of the crop was dented, which is behind the five-year average of 22 percent and last year’s 28 percent dented by this point. Corn in the dough stage is also behind, with 58 percent in that stage this year compared to the five-year average of 70 percent and last year’s 76 percent.

Nationally, 60 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition, with 25 percent rated fair and 15 percent poor to very poor, all were similar to last week are off from last year when 69 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, 20 percent fair and 11 poor to very poor.

As for other national measurements, USDA said 17 percent of the crop was dented, off from the five-year average of 21 percent and last year's 30 percent, and 52 percent was in the dough stage, off from 58 percent on average and 71 percent last year.

This week's photos comes from the Howells-Clarkson (top) and Imperial FFA chapters. For more photos, be sure to check out the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr.

For more details of Nebraska's corn crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.

Nebraska farmers may harvest record corn crop

Nebraska corn farmers are looking at potential yields of 166 bushels per acre, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. If realized, that would put Nebraska's corn crop at 1.6 billion bushels, a new state record.

A 1.6 billion bushel crop in Nebraska is 9 percent more than last year and 2 percent more than the previous record high set in 2009, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Nebraska Field Office. Yields of 166 bushels per acre would match last year, meaning the boost in production is coming from the corresponding 9 percent increase in planted acres — 10.0 million acres. (The record yield of 178 bushels per acre was set in 2009.)

A solid yield estimate is backed by Nebraska's excellent corn crop condition, with 79 percent of the crop rated good to excellent as of Aug. 7, with 15 percent rated fair and only 6 percent poor to very poor.

Nationally, of course, the word of the day is USDA lowering yield estimates from 158.7 bushels per acre last month to 153.0 this month. That, and a reduction in harvested area, dropped estimated national production to 12.9 billion bushels, off from last month's estimate of 13.5 billion.

While Nebraska saw a big jump in production over last year, so did other important corn states, including Iowa, Illinois and South Dakota. Texas and Kansas, meanwhile, saw significant declines due to poor weather, particularly hot and dry conditions.

Overall, though, the 2011 crop — if realized — is still up 4 percent from last year and the third-largest production total on record.

The 5.7 bushel decline in the national yield estimate was certainly more of a drop than many had expected from USDA. It will be interesting to see how that plays out as farmers start harvest, which will be here soon.

USDA also updated (.pdf) its supply and demand numbers based off the new yield estimate. A recap of the numbers is below, as provided by the Nebraska Corn Board's Kelly Brunkhorst.

Growing more with less, someone else sharing your story

It’s always great when we see others out there sharing the importance of agriculture, and in this instance – helping to tell our Sustaining Innovation message that Nebraska farmers are growing more corn using less resources!

Recently the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a report on fertilizer use and prices for corn across the US. This report is the result of the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS) jointly conducted in 2010 by the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) and USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). ARMS data used to be collected annually for corn, but has been collected less frequently since 2001.The last ARMS data for corn prior to 2010 was in 2005. This information, coupled with data on crop production in Nebraska from the Nebraska State Agricultural Statistic Service, provides an opportunity to explore how efficiently Nebraska farmers are using nitrogen (N) fertilizer for corn production.

Figure 1 illustrates the average N rate for corn in Nebraska as reported in ARMS data. This illustrates that the average rate of N fertilizer has remained basically unchanged for the past 40 years – around 140 lb N/acre. At the same time, corn production has seen a steady, linear increase in Nebraska over the same period (Figure 2).



When these two datasets are combined, the resulting trend in nitrogen use efficiency, expressed as pounds of N fertilizer applied to produce a bushel of corn, is illustrated in Figure 3.


In 2010, this value was 0.84 lb fertilizer N per bushel of corn. This compares to an average value of 1.5 to 1.6 lb fertilizer N per bushel of corn in the 1970s – about twice the N fertilizer currently used per bushel. This data does not indicate that a bushel of corn requires only 0.84 lb N. There are other sources of N besides fertilizer available to the crop – mineralized soil organic matter, residual nitrate from previous fertilization, legume and manure credits, for example – which contribute to the total N need for a corn crop of 1.1 – 1.2 lb N/bu. This data does indicate that Nebraska farmers are using nitrogen fertilizer much more efficiently now than they were 30-40 years ago.
 
They accomplish this using a wide range of practices – accounting for all sources of N available to the crop besides N fertilizer, as indicated above, as well as efficiency-boosting practices such as sidedressing, fertigation, use of nitrification and urease inhibitors, use of slow release formulations, setting realistic yield goals, and efficient irrigation management.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) guidelines on fertilizer use are available in the publication Fertilizer Suggestions for Corn (EC 117). Specific recommendations for fields using soil test information and cropping history can be calculated using the web resource SoilTest Nebraska (soiltest.unl.edu). Since 2005, UNL has provided economic adjustments to N fertilizer recommendations based on the relationship of crop and fertilizer N prices.


Figure 4 illustrates trends in the ratio of corn to N price over the past 50 years. The peak in this relationship occurred in the 1970’s, when fertilizer was quite inexpensive compared to the price of corn. In 2010, even though fertilizer prices seemed high, the value of the crop – on average – was even higher, resulting in a price ratio of 17:1. To avoid either deficient or excessive rates of N application, the price ratio range in UNL N recommendations for corn is confined between 4:1 and 10:1. To optimize profit, producers will want to use economic factors specific to their own situation; in general 2011 N rates should have been slightly higher than in recent years.

References: Richard B. Ferguson, UNL Extension Soils Specialist and UNL CropWatch

17% of Nebraska corn in dough stage, 77% rated good to excellent

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 17 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop was in the dough stage as of July 31, which is 8 points below the 25 percent five-year average. Last year's crop was right at that average, with 25 percent in the dough stage by now.

Ear of corn silking - waiting to be pollinated from the tassel.

USDA said 89 percent of the state's crop was silking, 1 point behind the average and 5 points behind last year. In terms of development, last year's crop was simply well ahead of average by this point.

Nationally, 18 percent of the crop is in the dough stage, which is 5 points behind the average and 12 points behind last year. So while marginally behind average, keep in mind that last year's number was 18 points ahead of the 2009 crop — so corn development last year was very fast thanks to early planting and some early good weather.

While it is a bit early for much of a dented estimate, USDA did note that 4 percent of nation's corn crop crop was dented, off from the 5 percent average and 6 percent last year. In Nebraska, USDA said no corn was dented, but a year ago only 2 percent of the crop was dented, compared to the five-year average of 1 percent.

Corn kernels just starting to form.

As for crop conditions, USDA said 77 percent of the state's crop was rated good to excellent, with 16 percent average and 7 percent poor to very poor. Last year (Aug. 2, 2010), 84 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was rated good to excellent, with 11 percent as fair and only 5 percent poor or very poor. In 2009, 79 percent was rated good to excellent.


Nationally, 62 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, with 24 percent fair and 14 percent poor to very poor, the same as last week. Those top numbers are well behind year ago when 71 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent, 19 percent was fair and 10 percent poor to very poor. In 2009, 68 percent of the crop was rated good to excellent.

This week's photos, from the Nebraska Corn Board's crop progress set on Flickr, feature photos submitted by the Howells-Clarkson FFA chapter.

For more details of Nebraska's corn crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.

Nebraska corn 82% good to excellent, 34% silking

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 34 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop was silking as of July 17. That’s up from 9 percent last week but is below the five-year average of 52 percent silking by this point, while last year 55 percent was silking.

Warm weather over the weekend and into this week, however, will allow later-planted corn to catch up very quickly.

As for crop conditions, USDA said 82 percent of Nebraska’s crop was in good to excellent condition, with 14 percent fair and only 4 percent poor to very poor. A week ago the numbers were 84, 12 and 4 percent, showing the crop has declined a bit but that is fairly normal for this time of year, especially considering some acres were flooded and are now being hammered by hot weather.

Nationally, USDA said 66 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition, 23 percent was fair and 11 percent was poor to very poor. A week ago those numbers were 69, 22 and 9 percent, while last year they were 72, 19 and 9 percent.

Nationally, 35 percent of the crop was silking, which was up from 14 percent last week but is behind the five-year average of 47 percent. A year ago, 62 percent of the crop was silking.

This week's photo comes from the Holdrege FFA Chapter. For more photos, be sure to check out the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr.

For more details of Nebraska's corn crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.

Nebraska corn 85 percent good to excellent

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 85 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop was in good to excellent condition for the week ending July 3, up from 79 percent a week ago. Only 12 percent of the crop was listed as fair and only 3 percent listed as poor or very poor this week.

The report said no Nebraska corn was silking, but that is not a surprise because cool weather early in the growing season has the crop behind by about a week. A year ago 6 percent of the crop was silking, while the five-year average is 5 percent silking by this point.

Warm weather last week allowed the crop to advance very quickly and warm weather with timely rains this week will quickly move the crop to the silking stage.

Nationally, USDA said 69 percent of the crop is in good to excellent condition, with 22 percent fair and 9 percent poor to very poor. A week ago those figures were 68, 23 and 9 percent, respectively. A year ago they were 71, 19 and 10 percent, respectively.

Silking across the country is also behind the average -- with only 6 percent of the country's corn crop reaching that stage by July 3. A year ago that figure was 18 percent while the five-year average is 12 percent.

This week's photo comes from the Howells-Clarkson FFA Chapter and shows off some great looking corn stalks. For more photos, be sure to check out the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr.

For more details of Nebraska's corn crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.

USDA bumps Nebraska corn acres to 10 million

In its acreage report released this morning, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Nebraska farmers planted 10.0 million acres of corn this year -- up 500,000 acres from it's estimate back in March. A year ago Nebraska farmers planted 9.15 million acres.

Good spring weather allowed farmers to get planting corn...and they kept on planting in response to demand for corn.

"Nebraska farmers clearly saw good demand for corn and responded to that demand,” Kelly Brunkhorst of the Nebraska Corn Board said in a news release.

Brunkhorst noted that 10 million acres is the most corn acres planted by Nebraska’s farm families since the early 1930s. It also surpasses the recent high of 9.4 million planted in 2007.

In addition to the increase in acres, Nebraska’s corn crop is off to a great start – with 79 percent of the crop in good to excellent condition. "We're encouraged by the progress and condition of the crop, and some sun and warm weather this week was pretty good timing," Brunkhorst said. "The potential is there for a good crop and hopefully the weather will cooperate."

On a national level, USDA said farmers planted 92.3 million acres this year, a 5 percent increase from last year’s 88.2 million acres and 7 percent more than in 2009 when 86.4 million acres were planted. USDA’s original estimate in March was 92.2 million acres.

USDA today also reported corn stocks. Nationally, corn stocks as of June 1 were 3.67 billion bushels, which is down about 15 percent from last year.

In Nebraska, there were 435.1 million bushels in storage as of June 1, about 16 percent less than a year ago. Of that total 190 million bushels were stored on farms and 245.1 million were stored off-farm.

“This is a good supply of corn for this time of year, and more than what most analysts had expected. Overall we’re in very good shape, with plenty of corn in storage and hopefully a good crop on the way,” he said.

Wordless Wednesday: Ridging Corn

Nebraska corn 76% good to excellent

Nebraska's corn crop is rated 76 percent good to excellent, with 19 percent fair and only 5 percent poor to very poor, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. The top figure is up 3 points from two weeks ago.

Nationally, USDA said 70 percent of the crop is in good to excellent condition, with 23 percent fair and 7 percent poor to very poor. A week ago those figures were 69, 25 and 6 percent, respectively. A year ago they were 75, 18 and 7 percent, respectively.

Overall, the crop here in Nebraska and across the country is in good shape. Of course some acres were lost to flooding along the Missouri, but USDA had included some estimates of that in its last crop production report. It will be interesting to see how that plays out as the water moves south.

While all of Nebraska's corn has emerged, there were still a few acres to emerge across the country -- Pennsylvania, for example, was only 76 percent emerged. Nationally, that figure stood at 97 percent, just 2 points behind the five-year average.

This week's photo comes from the Norris FFA Chapter and shows corn off to a great start. Many acres across the state look just like this, while some acres show even taller plants that are quickly closing the canopy. For more photos, be sure to check out the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr.

For more details of Nebraska's corn crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.

Wordless Wednesday

The Corn is growing!



Thanks to the Heartland FFA Chapter for this Crop Progress Photo! You can see all of the Crop Progress photos from FFA Chapters around the state at our online Flickr photo album.

73 percent of Nebraska corn in good to excellent condition

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said today that 73 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was in good to excellent condition for the week ending June 5. It said 25 percent of the crop was in fair condition and only 2 percent was rated poor. None of the crop was in the very poor category.

As for emergence, USDA said 88 percent of the crop had emerged, up 11 points from last week but 7 points behind the five-year average. Warmer weather over the weekend and this week, though, will get things up and growing pretty quickly.

Nationally, USDA said 94 percent of the corn crop was planted, up from last week’s 86 percent and only 4 points behind the five-year average of 98 percent planted by this date. Good progress was made in several states, including Ohio (from 19 to 58 percent planted in the last week), North Dakota (87 percent planted), Indiana (82 percent planted) and Michigan (82 percent planted).

Because of the late planting in many areas, only 79 percent of the crop nationwide has emerged, compared to the five-year average of 90 percent. Overall crop conditions, though, are pretty good, with 67 percent of the country's corn crop in good to excellent condition (up 4 points from last week), 27 percent fair and 6 percent poor to very poor. A year ago, 76 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition.

For photos of this year's crop progress, be sure to check out the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr.

For more details of the crop, visit the Corn Board's Crop Progress Update page.

Nebraska corn 94% planted, 55% emerged

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday that 94 percent of Nebraska's corn crop was planted and 55 percent of the corn had emerged. A year ago at this time Nebraska farmers had 95 percent of the crop in and 56 percent had emerged. The five year average is 95 percent planted and 61 percent emerged.

Nationally, USDA said 79 percent of the corn crop is planted, up from last week’s 63 percent but still behind the five-year average of 87 percent planted by this date. Some key states like Iowa (98 percent planted) and Illinois (90 percent planted) are nearly wrapped up. Minnesota caught up considerably, jumping to 81 percent planted (up from 47 percent). Ohio, meanwhile, is only 11 percent planted.

USDA said 45 percent of planted corn across the country had emerged, and while that's a nice jump from from last weeks 21 percent, it's still behind the five-year average of 59 percent.

The Nebraska Corn Board's Crop Progress Update noted that the National Agricultural Statistics Service's Nebraska Field Office reported significant rainfall in Nebraska and below average temperatures across the state for the week ending May 22. It also noted that crop and pasture conditions improved with the recent rains, although heavy rains caused localized flooding and soil erosion in isolated areas.

The top photo this week comes from the Holdrege FFA Chapter, while the bottom one comes from the SEM FFA Chapter. They are part of the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr.

Be sure to check out more photos and details of the crop year at the Board's Crop Progress Update page.

Wordless Wednesday | Pink corn

"Pink" treated seed corn

Thanks to the Howells-Clarkson FFA Chapter for this Crop Progress photo. You can see all of the Crop Progress photos from FFA chapters around the state at our online Flickr photo album.

Nebraska corn 57% planted, 4% emerged

Nebraska corn farmers had 57 percent of the corn crop planted as of yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly crop progress report this afternoon. That's a big jump from only 15 percent planted last week – and continued good weather will allow farmers rapidly advance that figure this week. Some farmers, in fact, have already moved on to soybeans (15 percent of the state's soy crop is planted, 1 point ahead of the five-year average).

If you follow USDA's estimate that Nebraska farmers will plant 9.5 million acres of corn this year, then Nebraska farmers planted about 4 million acres of corn in the last seven days.

A year ago Nebraska farmers had 74 percent of their corn planted, but last spring's weather was nearly ideal. The five-year average is 62 percent planted by this date.

USDA also noted that about 4 percent of Nebraska's corn crop is emerged. That figure will jump this week, too, with warmer weather spurring things on.

Nationally, USDA said 40 percent of the corn crop is planted, a good jump from last week's 13 percent but still behind the five-year average of 59 percent planted. A year ago 80 percent of the crop was planted. Iowa saw the biggest jump in planting this past week – moving from 8 percent planted a week ago to 69 percent this week, matching its five-year average. (FYI - That means Iowa farmers planted about 8.5 million acres in seven days – more than 1 million acres a day!)

Some states are still lagging, but it is only May 9 and there is plenty of time to get corn in the ground.

USDA said 7 percent of the nation's corn crop had emerged, off from 36 percent last year and 21 percent for the five-year average.

This week's photo comes from the Imperial FFA Chapter and shows corn plants just emerging from the soil. It's part of the Nebraska Corn Board's 2011 crop progress photo set on Flickr. Be sure to check out more photos and details of the crop year at the Board's Crop Progress Update page.