Corn

As of May 3, 38% of this year’s corn crop has been planted in the , according to the USDA. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 34%.

The USDA said 13% of the corn crop in 14 of the top 18 states states has emerged, which is ahead the five-year average of 9%.

Soybeans

As of May 3, 33% of the soybean crop in the nation’s top 18 soybean-growing states was in the ground. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 23%.

The USDA said 13% of the soybean crop in 14 of the top 18 states has emerged, which is ahead the five-year average of 5%.

Winter Wheat

The USDA reported that 49% of the winter wheat crop across 15 of the top 18 states has headed as of May 3. The five-year average is 32%.

Winter wheat condition for the week ending May 3 was as follows:

• Good/excellent: 31%
• Fair: 32%
• Poor/very poor: 37%

Last week at this time, 30% of the crop was in good/excellent condition. Last year at this time, 51% of the crop was in good/excellent condition.

Spring Wheat

In the top six spring-wheat-growing states, 32% of the spring wheat crop has been planted, trailing the five-year average of 35%.

Washington leads the six top states with 87% of its spring wheat crop planted. North Dakota has the lowest percentage planted, at 19%.

Across five of those six states, 10% of the spring wheat crop had emerged as of May 3, just ahead of the five-year average of 9%.

Oats

Across the nine top oat-growing states, 63% of planting is complete, according to the USDA. That’s on track with the five-year average.

Forty-three percent of the oat crop across the nine states has emerged, just ahead of the five-year average of 42%.

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Corn crop progress: As of May 4, 40% of the corn crop across the country’s top 18 corn-growing states had been planted. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 39%.

Eleven percent of the corn crop had emerged across 16 of the top corn-growing states as of May 4. That’s ahead of the five-year average by 2 percentage points.

Soybean crop progress: The USDA said that as of May 4, 30% of the soybean crop across all top 18 states had been planted. That’s notably ahead of the five-year average of 23%.

Winter wheat progress: The USDA reported that 39% of the winter wheat crop across 12 of the top 18 states had headed as of May 4. The five-year average is 33%.

For the week ending May 4, the condition of the nation’s winter wheat crop was as follows: Good/excellent: 51%, Fair: 31% and Poor/very poor: 18%.

Spring wheat progress: In the top six spring wheat-growing states, 44% of the crop had been planted as of May 4. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 34%.

Thirteen percent of the spring wheat crop had emerged across all six states by May 4.

Oat crop progress: Across the nine top oat-growing states, 71% of the season’s planting is complete, according to the USDA. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 64%.

A total of 69% of the crop has emerged, across all nine states, 48% of the oat crop had emerged by May 4, five points ahead of the five-year average.

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Corn crop progress

The USDA says as of June 2, 91% of the 2024 corn crop has been planted in the top 18 corn-growing states. This is up from 83% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 89%. Corn is emerging in all of those states, with 74% out of the ground. That’s up from 58% the week prior and slightly ahead of the five-year average of 73%.

Soybean crop progress

USDA says soybean planting progress in the top 18 growing states is at 78%, up from 68% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 73%. Soybeans have emerged in all of those states, with 55% out of the ground. That’s up from 39% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 52%.

Oat crop progress

The USDA says across all nine of the top oat-growing states, 97% of the crop has been planted, up from 93% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 95%. A total of 87% of the crop has emerged in those states, up from 77% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 83%. Oats are headed in seven of top nine growing states, at a total of 33%. This is up from 29% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 28%.

Winter wheat progress

USDA says 83% of winter wheat has headed across all of the top 18 growing states. This is up from 77% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 78%. The report says harvest has begun in six states and is 6% complete. This is twice as much as the five-year average.

Spring wheat progress

The USDA says spring wheat planting progress in the top six growing states is at 94%, up from 88% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 90%. A total of 78% is out of the ground, up from 61% the week prior and ahead of the five-year average of 69%.

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The virus was first identified at a Texas farm in March and has since spread to 41 farms across nine states. Wild birds are believed to be the initial source, but cow-to-cow transmission is evident. A Texas dairy farm worker was also infected but recovered.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza spreads quickly in poultry and can be deadly. While sick cows typically recover in 10 to 14 days, they shed large amounts of the virus in their milk. In April, the USDA prohibited the transport of most lactating dairy cattle across state lines unless tested negative.

The virus has been found in dairy farms in Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, and South Dakota. The new federal funding includes:
• Up to $2,000 per month per site for protective equipment and uniform laundering.
• Up to $8,000 per producer for heat treatment of infected milk.
• Up to $10,000 per site for veterinary fees and testing.
• Up to $1,500 per site for biosecurity plans and training.

The USDA will also compensate farms for milk losses and states for local movement restrictions. The CDC and FDA are increasing testing to better understand the virus and its public health risks. The CDC deems the human risk low, and the FDA confirms pasteurization neutralizes the virus in milk.

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Priority areas for funding include climate-smart agriculture, urban agriculture, conservation, and environmental justice.

For upcoming webinars for applicants and information on how to apply go to:

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Net farm income is the profit farmers see after paying for operating expenses. Two major factors are impacting income forecasts – lower prices paid to farmers for crops and livestock, and increased costs for supplies. While these are early estimates and they could change throughout the year, USDA anticipates a decrease in net farm income, moving from $156 billion in 2023 to $116 billion in 2024.

“Farm families are suffering through the same economic hardships as all families in America,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “High inflation is making the food farmers grow more expensive to produce, and is cutting into the income farm families rely on to pay bills, provide an education for their children, and reinvest in their community. We urge Congress to focus on bringing costs down and passing a new farm bill, both of which will help ensure farmers can continue meeting the needs of a growing nation.”

The Market Intel explains, “Cash receipts for crop and livestock sales are expected to move from $507 billion in 2023 to $486 billion in 2024 for a loss of $21 billion (4%). The forecast decline in crop receipts explains nearly 80% of this difference, signaling a weaker incoming year for row crop prices.”

Production expenses remain stubbornly high as well. Transportation, labor, pesticide and fertilizer costs are all hitting farmers’ bottom line. Production expenses are estimated to increase 4%, or $16.7 billion, in 2024, totaling $455 billion in 2024.

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Connecting all communities across the United States to high-speed internet is a central part of the Investing in America agenda to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and middle out by rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. This agenda is driving more than $500 billion in private-sector manufacturing investments, rebuilding America’s infrastructure, lowering costs, and creating good-paying jobs. And it’s transforming our country for the better – reaching communities in every corner of the United States, including those that have too often been left behind.

Today’s announcement includes $667 million in USDA investments in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the Marshall Islands.

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“USDA continues to make progress on our goal to provide producers access to the tools… and ultimately succeed as thriving agricultural businesses,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The financial assistance…will provide a fresh start for distressed borrowers with guaranteed farm loans and will give them the opportunity to generate long-term stability and success.”

Since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, USDA has provided approximately $1.15 billion in assistance to more than 20,000 distressed borrowers as a part of an ongoing effort to keep borrowers farming, remove obstacles that currently prevent many borrowers from returning to their land, and improve the way that USDA approaches borrowing and loan servicing in the long-term.

An FLP guaranteed loan borrower is distressed if they qualify under one of the options below. FLP guaranteed borrowers who qualify under multiple options will receive a payment based on the option that provides the greatest payment amount:

• Payment of any outstanding delinquency on all qualifying FLP guaranteed loans as of Oct. 18, 2022. This includes any guaranteed loan borrowers who did not receive an automatic payment in 2022 on that loan because they were not yet 60 days delinquent as of Sept. 30, 2022, as well as guaranteed borrowers that became delinquent on a qualifying FLP guaranteed loan between September 30, 2022, and Oct.18, 2022.  
• Payment on a qualifying FLP guaranteed loan for which a guaranteed loan borrower received a loan restructure, which modified the guaranteed loan maturity date, between March 1, 2020, and Aug. 11, 2023. The payment amount will be the lesser of the post-restructure annual installment or the amount required to pay the loan in full. The guaranteed loan must not have been paid in full prior to Aug. 11, 2023.
• Payments on certain deferred amounts on qualifying FLP guaranteed loans, not to exceed $100,000, for guaranteed borrowers who received a deferral or another type of payment extension, for at least 45 days, between March 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2022, from their guaranteed lender on that qualifying guaranteed loan in response to COVID-19, disasters, or other revenue shortfalls. The Inflation Reduction Act payment amount will be the lesser of the most recent deferral or extension amount on the qualifying FLP guaranteed loan, or the amount required to pay that loan in full. The guaranteed loan must not have been paid in full prior to Aug. 11, 2023.

Based on current analysis, the financial assistance will assist an estimated approximately 3,500 eligible borrowers, subject to change as payments are finalized.

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“The Biden-Harris Administration and USDA are standing up for America’s farmers and ranchers by expanding processing capacity, creating fairer markets, more revenue streams and market opportunities which help bring down food costs for families at the grocery store,” Secretary Vilsack said.

We are partnering with entrepreneurs in rural areas to build brighter futures, connect business owners to new markets and create good jobs for generations to come. These investments reflect the goals of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild our economy from the bottom up and middle out and make our communities more resilient.”

USDA is making investments worth $320 million to strengthen food supply chains and create more opportunities for producers and entrepreneurs in 19 states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Iowa, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

In the Midwest, family-owned businesses, like a meat market and a bison processing facility, will expand their production capabilities, maintain the highest quality control possible and save jobs.

· In the Northeast, a local, innovative greenhouse facility will be able to grow salad greens year-round in a hydroponic environment.

· In the South, food supply chain businesses, like a berry processor, will purchase equipment to expand production capacity for their businesses.

· And in the West, a plant-based yogurt manufacturer and a cold storage facility will support resilience in the supply chain and expand sustainable options for consumers.

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