USDA: Crop Progress Typical, Peanuts Ahead of Schedule
Numbers released Monday from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) show that progress on most crops is within a few percentage points of the average for the past five years.
A few crops have gone a bit beyond those modest variances, and a few states are seeing significantly different numbers than they have, on average, since 2012.
Peanuts are especially ahead of schedule this year. They are 67 percent planted compared to the 59 percent typically in the ground at this time. Among the eight states included in the data, Texas made the biggest leap compared to its average. It has 60 percent of its peanuts planted, which represents a 10 percentage point increase.
Spring wheat saw the next biggest variance in crop progress. It is 6 percent ahead of its average. In the six states included in spring wheat data, Idaho is 22 percentage points behind its five-year average at 78 percent. Minnesota is about 16 percentage points ahead.
Winter wheat is ahead by 5 percentage points. States that are most ahead of their five-year average are Ohio (38 percentage points ahead of the average) and Nebraska (25 percentage points ahead). Oregon is 25 percentage points behind its average with only 10 percent planted.
In California, growers’ efforts to plant rice have been delayed. NASS reports that California has planted 59 percent of its rice as of Sunday, which compares to 78 percent as the five-year average. Only 4 percent of the state’s rice has emerged compared to a 43 percent average.
The average of all six rice-growing states is a percentage point ahead of the five-year average.
Among the big crops, progress is on course. Corn is 84 percent planted and 54 percent emerged, which is a percentage point behind the average in both cases.
Soybeans are 53 percent planted and 19 percent emerged—a percentage point ahead of the average for planting and two points behind the average for emerging.
Cotton is 2 percentage points ahead of the average at 52 percent planted. California is significantly behind its average for cotton with 61 percent planted compared to the 94 percent average.