Corn gets planted in record time

Spring planting 2020 is making history in Minnesota for all the right reasons.
Since Sunday, the state’s grain producers are well ahead of corn and soybean acres planted at this time last year and are ahead of the five-year planting averages.
Soybeans have set a planting record.
Last week farmers completed planting 35 percent of the state’s anticipated soybean crop, the most planted by this time since estimates began in 1963. The percentage is slightly above the previous record of 32 percent in 2015.
Mild temperatures and little to no rainfall allowed the state’s farmers to plant 36 percent of the corn acreage in a week, bringing the amount planted to 76 percent complete.
Corn planting progress is one month ahead of last year and two weeks ahead of the five-year average. Three percent of the state’s corn crop is already emerging.
The five-year average for soybeans planted is 10 percent. No soybeans were in the ground a year ago at this time.
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services tracks the state’s crop progress and conditions from April through November.
Reports are released weekly on Mondays.