Farmers in the western corn belt finally got into the fields last week and wasted no time planting. In Iowa corn planting jumped 50-percent and now sits at 69-percent complete, with soybeans also at 43-percent which is up 37-percent on the week. Dean Meyer farmers near Rock Rapids and says field conditions have been ideal.
Near Akron Dave Heeren says he is planting into dry soil and hasn’t had to go around any potholes. So, he’ll be done planting this week, but some farmers in his area are already finished.
The crop was planted into moisture, but with much of western Iowa in some level of drought farmers will look to the skies for rain. Meyer says some of his fields have a better subsoil moisture profile than expected for as dry as it was the second half of 2020.
Minnesota also made good progress with 60-percent of the corn seeded and 23-percent of the beans. Nebraska farmers have 42-percent of the corn and 20-percent of the beans planted and South Dakota corn is 25-percent seeded, with soybeans at 8-percent.
