The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) checked in with corn checkoff organizations and U.S. farmers around the country to get a read on the collective planting progress being made with the U.S. corn crop at the beginning of the 2021 growing season.
As of May 9, collective corn planting progress exceeded the five-year average in 13 of the 18 states reporting.
Good progress and a desire for rain were two comments that permeated the conversations among the farmers and farm organization staff with whom USGC spoke.
In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its Prospective Plantings report for 2021, a survey of farmers from across the country that helps the USDA calculate how many acres of each crop farmers anticipate planting. According to it, the total estimated acres for corn of all uses is 91.1 million, with an expected increase of less than one percent compared to the prior year.
As of May 9, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), overall, in the 18 states reporting, planting has reached 67 percent, two percent ahead of the same time last year.
Those same states reported 20 percent of corn has emerged, compared to 22 percent that had emerged this time last year. The 18 states -- Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin -- make up 92 percent of the 2020 corn acreage.
Through its network of staff overseas and on social media, USGC will be sharing regular updates throughout the growing season with global customers.
Check out corn planting progress via the Council’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter feeds or by using the hashtags #plant21 and #plant2021.
