About 3 percent of the corn crop is in the ground, the report says
U.S. farmers have an idea how the start of the 2026 planting season is going through the USDA’s Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin.
About 3 percent of the national corn crop is in the ground, the April 7 report says.
With March’s planting intentions report estimating 95.3 million acres of corn in 2026, this means farmers have planted about 2.86 million acres of corn so far.
To put that number into context, Texas farmers planted about 2.5 million acres of corn in 2025.
And so far, Texas producers have planted the most corn in 2026.
The USDA’s report estimated farmers there have planted 59 percent of the state’s corn acreage.
And with Texas producers planning to plant 2.6 million acres of corn this year, this means about 1.5 million acres, which is comparable to Colorado’s total 2025 corn acreage.
Tennessee is the other state with corn planting progress in double digits.
About 18 percent of the 1,000 planned corn acres is in the state’s soil, the USDA’s figures show.
U.S. farmers have also started planting their spring wheat.
About 2 percent of the national spring wheat acreage, estimated at 9.4 million acres, is in the ground.
This means farmers have planted around 188,000 acres of spring wheat.
Farmers in Idaho are the furthest ahead with 18 percent of their spring wheat planted.
That figure equals about 76,500 acres of the total planned 425,000 spring wheat acres for the state.
The report also includes progress on the winter wheat crop.
About 7 percent of the crop has headed, the USDA’s report says.
Most of that has occurred in California where 45 percent of the state’s winter wheat is in this stage.
In terms of the crop condition, nationally about 34 percent of the crop is rated fair with another 29 percent in the good category.