#Plant17 is officially underway now with the latest crop progress report issued yesterday from USDA.

Corn planting at three percent nationwide as of April 9 is a point behind last year at this time but exactly on target with five-year average.

Texas, where National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) president Wesley Spurlock farms, is well ahead of both last year and the five year average with 59 percent planted. Four percent of the corn has been planted in Kansas and Kentucky, where this photo was taken, with ten percent in North Carolina, seven percent in Tennessee, and five percent in Missouri.

The I states are running behind schedule with only Illinois making any progress and that only one percent. “Wet weather kept farmers from the field for most of the week, but the dryer weather and warmer temps late in the week allowed some field work and fertilizer applications to take place. We will need some more warm and dry weather before we start see widespread fieldwork,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said.