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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Winter wheat is the first cash crop to be planted since an ag commodity price rally began in August. The rally is a welcome relief for farmers after four years of global surplus grain stocks that have kept prices low and hobbled the U.S. ag economy.

USDA this month projected U.S. total wheat seedings for 2021, including winter and spring wheat, at 46 million acres, up from 44.3 million acres in 2020-21. A private agribusiness analytics firm this month forecast U.S. winter wheat plantings were 31.5 million acres, up 3.6 percent from the acres seeded a year ago.

Additional U.S. wheat would help meet export demand after countries around the world stocked up on grains to ensure food supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensure flour for baked goods and pastas next year.

Domestic demand for wheat and flour has held roughly steady from a year ago, USDA data shows, even as the pandemic sent millers and bakers scrambling to adapt to consumers eating more meals at home instead of dining out. Grocery stores faced flour shortages this spring due to an uptick in demand for small bags of flour for home baking.

Source: Reuters