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Between the Rows - Planting Progress Report 5-5-10

Indiana
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana farmers are planting corn and soybeans at a record pace, according to the latest figures from the Indiana office of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

For the week ending April 25, 56 percent of the state’s corn crop had been planted, and 12 percent of the soybean crop. Both rates surpass the previous records set in 2004, said Greg Matli, deputy director of the office.

At the same time last year, 2 percent of the state’s corn crop was in the ground. The five-year average is 14 percent.

No beans had been planted a year ago at this time, while the five-year average is 2 percent.

The dry warm weather earlier in April allowed the soil temperature to increase, Matli said. The average temperature of the soil at four inches was between 55-degrees to 64-degrees F. across the state.
Five percent of the state’s corn crop has emerged, leading to worries about a late cold snap.

“It is a concern. It’s a risk farmers take when they plant this early,” he explained. “Some farmers are already done with corn and started working on beans.”

In 2004, 42 percent of the corn crop had been planted by this time, and 8 percent of the soybean crop.

By Michele Mihaljevich
Indiana Correspondent

Michigan
Dan Ledbury, agricultural statistician with the Michigan NASS Office, said the state’s warm weather and favorable soil conditions this spring have been nearly ideal for fieldwork and planting crops.
“If you look at corn planting, we are at a record level,” Ledbury said. “Our records go back to 1976, and planting progress is the earliest we have ever been.”

According to the agricultural summary for the week ending April 26, 32 percent of Michigan’s corn crop is planted, a 20-percent increase over the five-year average of 12 percent and a dramatic increase from just 3 percent planted at this time last year. Soybean planting also is under way throughout the state.

Much of the state received some precipitation last week. Relatively dry conditions allowed many farmers to progress in the field, although rain late in the week did prevent topsoil from drying and slowed some work.

“Soil moisture is adequate. Most areas are dry enough that fieldwork can be done, but there are still some wet spots out there,” Ledbury said.

Wheat is progressing with almost no powdery mildew reported in the state’s Thumb region. In central Michigan, some fields may be tilled under due to poor stands. Top dressing of wheat continues.
“Winter wheat is in pretty good shape,” Ledbury said.

Due to warm early spring weather, fruit development is more advanced this year than in the past 15 years. Cool morning temperatures and morning frost has caused some injury to fruit crops, but it’s too early to determine the extent of the damage.
Vegetable growers continue to take advantage of unseasonably warm temperatures by laying black plastic and planting some early season crops.

By Shelly Strautz-Springborn
Michigan Correspondent

Kentucky
As Bluegrass State farmers get into the full swing of planting season, they have faced a mixed bag of weather, first by unusually dry and warm conditions for most of the spring, followed by a generous rainfall last week.

That has played well to corn growers as planting saw significant progress last week. The latest information available from the Kentucky Field Office of the USDA’s NASS, noted that as of Sunday April 25, 74 percent of the intended corn acreage had been planted compared to 35 percent last week, and 45 percent for the five-year average.

Corn intentions are up for this year by 100,000 acres more than 2009 with a total of 1.32 million acres expected to be planted.
Soybeans on the other hand are looking to take a dip from last year with an expected 1.37 million acres to be planted, down 60,000 acres. Soybean planting as of last week stood at three percent, slightly higher than the five-year average of two percent.
Most tobacco production is expected to decrease with Burley taking the hardest hit as 70,000 acres are expected for harvest, down 5,000 acres from 2009. Dark-fired and dark-air tobacco planting is also expected to fall by about 100 acres each.

According to the NASS report, “greenhouse and floatbeds represent 98 percent of tobacco planted while conventional beds represent just 2 percent. Last week, 41 percent of tobacco plants were less than 2 inches tall, 35 percent were 2 to 4 inches tall, and 24 percent were taller than 4 inches.”

By Tim Thornberry
Kentucky Correspondent

Ohio
Dan Martin, a farmer from Butler County in southwestern Ohio, has never planted corn as early as he did this year.

“We started planting on April 14th”, he said. “Usually we wait until around the 20th but the ground was working good and the 80-degree weather warmed the soil.”

Corn planting throughout Ohio was off to the fastest start in years, said Jim Ramey, Ohio NASS Director. According to NASS statistics, 45 percent of the corn was planted on April 25 with 1 percent emerged compared to a year ago when only 4 percent was in the ground. The five-year average is 19 percent.

“We’ve had favorable weather across the state,” Ramey said. “This past weekend we had a fairly general rain - some ground had gotten a little dry. Farmers got the seed in and needed a little moisture to get it to sprout and it seems like they’ve done pretty well.”

Rainfall in the state is about an inch and a half below normal, Ramey said.

On a weekly conference call with 13 agricultural educators representing Ohio’s major grain producing counties north of I-70, Dr. Peter Thomison, Extension Specialist, OSU Horticultural and Crop Sciences said that some counties were talking of having 80 percent or more of the corn in the ground, others had 40 to 50 percent. Growers had commented that fields were working better and soils were in good shape, Thomison said.

But a farmer’s life is never worry-free: “May can be an unforgiving month sometimes,” Thomison added.

By Celeste Baumgartner
Ohio Correspondent

5/5/2010