By Mary Hightower
Dry weather at the start of the row crop growing season has sped planting of the state’s five major crops, with soybeans going in the ground at the fastest pace since 1988.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service reported that as of Sunday:
- Corn was 91 percent planted vs. the 69 percent five-year average.
- Rice was 79 percent planted vs. the 54 percent five-year average
- Soybeans were 61 percent planted vs. the 35 percent five-year average
- Cotton was 17 percent planted vs. the 6 percent five-year average
- Peanuts were 17 percent planted vs. the 6 percent five-year average.
“In records back to 1988, this year is the fastest soybean planting pace,” Scott Stiles, extension economics program associate for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said on Tuesday.
Arkansas has been very dry through the start of the growing season, having suffered a deepening drought since August 2025. However, the state has seen rain falling from Friday to Tuesday.
Jeremy Ross, extension soybean agronomist for the Division of Agriculture, said Tuesday he’s heard that many soybean growers are “getting close to being done planting.”
“This rain was very much needed. After this rain event, it looks like we will be dry again for a few days. This could be the quickest planting we have seen for all commodities ever.
“Other than some erratic emerging, we’ve seen no major issues yet,” Ross said. “We will just have to wait and see what pest pressure will be later in the year.”
Source : uada.edu