According to a report at Successful Farming, the first U.S. corn for 2018 is already coming out of the ground.
Farmers as far north as southern Mississippi and northeastern Louisiana have been planting corn this week, while the first corn went into the ground in southern Texas in late February.
Texas farmers have been planting through wet conditions that have delayed some fieldwork.
Along with wet conditions, colder temperatures have made the start of the corn growing season a slight difficulty for the seeds.
Wilbert Hundl, USDA/NASS director of Texas’s Southern Plains Region, says the state’s farmers are fighting rain events to start the season.
Today, the USDA will update planting progress. As of last week, Texas farmers had planted 11% of their corn, behind a 14% pace from a year ago, and ahead of a five-year average of 10%.
“There is corn in the ground, but rain has delayed the processes of applying fertilizer and planting,” Hundl says. “We should see corn planting pick up in the next two weeks.”
Hundl says that area farmers recorded average corn yields last year right at 140 bushels per acre, above 127 bushels per acre in 2016.
This planting difficulty along with price will support fewer acres of the grain in the South, says Corey Brown, a Wharton County, Texas, Extension Agent.
“We’re not behind on planting corn, yet, but for those areas that haven't planted, we are behind on applying liquid fertilizer and getting the ground ready,” Bowen says.
Located about 60 miles southwest of Houston, along the upper Gulf Coast of Texas, Bowen says that area farmers are approaching their optimal planting date.
Read the full report at Successful Farming by clicking here.
