Market Matters Blog           04/30 06:58

   2024 Planting Season Has Been Early for Many Midwest Farmers: Part 2

   As Upper Midwest farmers finish up with spring wheat planting, most of the 
rest of the Midwest states have been busy planting or trying to plant corn and 
soybeans depending on the weather.

Mary Kennedy
DTN Basis Analyst

   I spoke to Midwest farmers during the week of April 22, asking them how 
things were going in their areas as far as planting or if some planting has 
been slowed or even stopped by rain. This is Part 2 of a two-story special 
package on the planting season. Today's story covers planting comments from the 
Midwest states of Nebraska, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio.

   NEBRASKA

   "Today is Thursday, April 25. I finished planting all of my soybeans 
yesterday after starting April 12," said Cale Carlson, of Marquette, Nebraska. 
"Earliest I've ever started and the most I've ever gotten planted to this date. 
That being said, it is extremely dry here, which has allowed for all the 
fieldwork prep ahead of time to be accomplished. Most of our pre-spraying is 
applied and we are just waiting for a rain (hopefully tomorrow). Currently, 
corn soil conditions are dry and hard and I'm setting the seed depth deeper to 
try to get the moisture. If no rain by Saturday, I will be starting irrigation 
Sunday or Monday. Overall, I'm very excited to be putting in my 29th crop."

   Carlson sent me an update Friday saying, "We got 3 inches of rain, glory 
hallelujah! I was able to get 1/4 of corn done before the rain, so I'm feeling 
very caught up on my planting pace."

   "We got the corn planter rolling April 14 for the day to make sure all the 
kinks were worked out with it before colder temperatures and some much-needed 
moisture moved into the area," said Quentin Connealy, of Tekamah, Nebraska.

   "We got the corn planter rolling good on April 20 and got about 45% of the 
corn planted before shutting down for our first major rain event in a long time 
that brought 1 to 2 inches of rain over the area," Connealy said. "Previously 
to mid-April, our moisture profile was very low, and we had drought-like 
conditions. These rains have loosened up the soil and provided good planting 
conditions the week of April 20. The conditions were good, not great as the 
previous fieldwork done played some factors into planting, but at least there's 
some moisture down there now, if you did any spring tillage. Planted into some 
good no-till conditions later in the week as the ground warmed up and seemed 
more suitable for baby corn seeds," said Connealy.

   "Planting has progressed rapidly in south-central Nebraska," said Jay 
Reiners, of Juniata, Nebraska. "As I write this, it's raining, which has been a 
rarity the last couple of years. Everyone is welcoming this rain! We had some 
moisture over the winter, but we're nearly 25 inches below for the last couple 
of years. Planting conditions were some of the best in a long time. The only 
concern has been dryness and cold temps, but it's supposed to warm up 
dramatically next week. Combined with the rain, the corn and bean crop should 
get off to a great start. Now we just need to get commodity prices back up!"

   Reiners checked in again on Friday morning to say his area got 2.7 to 5 
inches of rain, so planting was on hold there.

   Kenny Reinke, of Neligh, Nebraska, said on April 27, "In my area of 
northeast Nebraska, we are just getting started planting. It's been a yo-yo of 
overly warm periods with cooler wet days thrown in between. The first week of 
May is historically when everyone gets rolling hard.

   "I'm actually starting on beans first for the second year in a row now. I 
only have one field in now as a cooler wet weekend rolled in. Received about 3 
inches of rain from this system. I'm not concerned with planting delays until 
we get into mid to late May," Reinke noted.

   "As far as wheat goes, I grow HRW," said Reinke. "It came out of winter 
dormancy looking the best it has in several years. The periods of heat also 
have it back to an average to a little bit ahead on growth rate. It's getting 
really close to joint stage. The rain has been a blessing, but it is starting 
to make late-fertilizer-application timing a challenge, due to soil conditions 
and application methods."

   "The theme from my area of Polk County is the relentless drought that 
doesn't want to give up," said Dana Glatter, of Polk County, Nebraska. "Rain is 
forecasted, but we've been promised good rains for some time and only usually 
get 0.25 to 0.50 inches once every two weeks if that," said Glatter. "Some 
guys, including me, have been busy getting spring alfalfa drilled and waiting 
on corn planting this week to see what the weather does. Others, mostly larger 
producers, have been going hard on corn for the past five days. Corn in my area 
is probably 15% complete. The top 2 to 3 inches of soil is mostly dry fluff at 
the moment. Seeing some acres shift over to corn on corn, which is very common 
here. Just praying for some much-needed moisture to get the cool season grasses 
and other forages going!"

   Glatter checked back in with me on Saturday and said, "We did get a nice 
rain finally. Three inches should hold us over for a little bit. It's going to 
delay planting for a while, but we desperately needed it."

   INDIANA

   Bodie Kitchel, of central Indiana, on April 23 said, "Today, ground 
conditions were in the best condition they have been in this spring. Very 
little crop in our area has been planted. We are supposed to have two good days 
of drying weather before four days of rain Saturday, Sunday, Monday and 
Tuesday. Equipment is bigger than in years past and we will get a window to get 
crop in. Just will depend on how far into May we go with the amount of rain we 
get in the next seven to 10 days. Early April we had 6 inches of rain in an 
eight-day period, but luckily we were dry before that and anything with tile 
was able to get on while other fields are still wetter."

   MICHIGAN

   "Corn and soybeans going in slowly here. Ground conditions are ideal on 
lighter sandy soils minus the temperature; 45-50 degrees today, but warmer 
temps in the forecast should help that," said Duane Smuts, of Charlotte, 
Michigan. "Heavy clay loam soil (soil mixture that contains more clay than 
other types of rock or minerals) is still too wet to get rolling on. The soft 
red winter (wheat) looks very good at this point. Hoping the frost the last two 
days has minimal effect, as we are early in the growth stages."

   Matt Schwab, of northeastern Michigan, said midweek, "Here in northeast 
Michigan, we have had a cool and wet spring. As of April 23, most forage and 
alfalfa crops have seen an opportunity to get seeded. No corn or soybeans have 
been planted in my immediate area. South of me, 30-40 miles in the Saginaw 
Valley region, most sugar beets have been planted along with a sprinkling of 
corn and soybeans. Wet weather in the forecast may keep us out of the fields 
for another four to five days."

   KENTUCKY

   "Everyone around here has started or will be starting corn this week, 
weather tonight pending," said Quint Pottinger April 23 from New Haven, 
Kentucky. "We started planting corn today and a few of the bigger acre guys 
started when the weather went over 80 degrees last week. Everyone else wanted 
to wait until the cold rain last weekend moved through. I'd say guys in our 
area will be approaching 25-30% done with corn, with soybeans starting to go in 
later this week."

   IOWA

   "We planted 83% of our corn this week; the only thing we're growing this 
year. Getting nice rain so far, not too much or too little!" said Dave Newby, 
of Bondurant, Iowa.

   OHIO

   "Here are my planting conditions: nonexistent, wet and very wet," summarized 
Cody Etter of Cloverdale, Ohio. Pictures he sent of his flooded fields were 
proof of that.

   Etter said that as of April 23, outside of a very small amount of spraying 
that has taken place, there hasn't been a single wheel turn in the entire area. 
"No fertilizer, no tillage, no planting. We have received between 8 inches to 9 
inches of rain over the past month and are expecting more today. We've gotten 
close to fieldwork multiple times, but rain always arrives just beforehand. 
Morale remains high, but what once appeared to be an early spring (we were 
super dry prior to this) has turned into a waiting game."

   I told him I was sorry to see and hear of his current predicament and he 
replied, "It happens! Nothing we haven't seen before. Last time I recall 
anything to this level would be 2019 and 2015. Fair amount of prevent plant 
both of those years. In 2019, no one turned a wheel until early June. We aren't 
there, yet."

   Etter told me the main crops there are corn, soybeans, and wheat. "Outside 
of two big rains, the rains have just been consistent. I think there are 
definitely some fields of wheat that have suffered, but mainly small, low areas 
in the fields that are poorly drained. All things considered; I think most 
people would be pleased with how the wheat looks. However, due to the mild 
winter, weed pressure seems to be up across the board."

   **

   Editor's Note:

   This is Part 2 of a two-story special package on the planting season.

   To see Part 1, with comments covering the Upper Midwest states of North and 
South Dakota, and Minnesota, see: 
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/columns/cash-market-moves/article/2024/
04/29/2024-planting-season-got-good-start

   See DTN summary of the April 29 USDA NASS weekly Crop Progress report at 
https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/article/2024/04/29/crop-progress-c
orn-23-planted-16-1

   Mary Kennedy can be reached at Mary.Kennedy@dtn.com.

   Follow her on social platform X @MaryCKenn




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