US farmers ahead planting corn as a result of warm weather

23 April 2012 21:40  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Warm spring weather in much of the US is allowing farmers to plant corn at a rapid pace, data released by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated on Monday.

USDA's weekly Crop Progress Report said as of 22 April, 28% of the corn had been planted in the top 18 corn-producing states, compared with only 8% on the same date in 2011.

While growers in Illinois have planted 59% of their projected corn, some acres will have to be replanted after a late frost visited the central region of the state early this week, killing corn plants that had emerged.

The USDA said 9% of the corn planted to date had emerged from the soil.

Nationally, 6% of the soybean crop has been planted, along with 17% of the cotton crop, 37% of the rice crop, 21% of the sorghum crop and 5% of the peanut crop.

In most states, farmers will finish planting corn before planting soybeans.

The USDA projected that farmers will plant 95.9m acres of corn and 76m acres of soybeans in 2012.

By: Frank Zaworski
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