U.S. Planting Making Good Pace

May 14, 2020

U.S. farmers have been making good progress with spring seeding.

We spoke to FarmLink Chief Market Analyst Neil Townsend earlier this week.

"Significantly faster rate than last year," he said. "In terms of corn progress they're 67% planted, that's up week on week by about 16% but the better news from a U.S. corn farmer standpoint is that last year at this time they were only 28% complete. They're ahead of the five-year pace...Soybeans are also doing way better than last year, 38% complete. Last year at this time only 8% complete."

However, Townsend says cooler weather has slowed down U.S. spring wheat planting in some areas.

"It is proceeding a little bit slowly. I'm not sure if the cold weather necessarily throws people off or what is the particular reason but I guess they want a certain soil temperature and they're not quite getting it, so it's proceeding slowly. We've had that cold weather in Western Canada as well."

He notes the some of the U.S. winter wheat has been deteriorating over the past few weeks due challenging weather conditions.

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Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.