Below is the May 18, 2020 corn, bean and wheat planting and status updates. As noted we are ahead of the average and way ahead of the last two years, especially for corn. The earlier the corn is planted in general the larger the yields will be and also earlier and drier if all goes as normal. With and early planting it is typical to see more of a switch to more corn and less beans. This is more likely the case with the bean market looking flat and the futures do not even come close to covering storage costs over time. Huge unknowns in the market right now. China is back and buying but are working the USA and the two big nations in South America and looking for lower cost beans. Our current high dollar is a road block there. With Russia and the Saudis slowly easing their oil chicken game and increased travel ethanol usage will increase but there is a long, long way to go to get that back to 4.5 billion plus bushels per year usage. Hopefully getting meat processing back on track will help beef, pork and poultry all of which use a lot of corn and soybean grain.The export market for most of the world will be economic for the most part and the world is in a slump. China is right now a potential huge market but it is also a political market and that makes it real iffy for sure. With processing in a real turmoil that means there is product out there all over and cheap and with packer margins at all time highs foreign interests are probably very interested in buying more processing capacity. I hope our capitalists that own these hang on their businesses.

Bryce
https://agnewsfeed.com/2020/05/18/usda-crop-progress-corn-planting-still-ahead-of-schedule/

" I hope our capitalists that own these hang on their businesses."

2X We shouldn't give away more of our processing/production plants.

Well the Ag community looks like they are in the same boat as the trapper. They produce a product they don't know the value of until it is ready to sell. I feel their pain. I sure wish the gov. would pay me not to produce. LLL

Rained out with 5 acres left, plus sweet corn and meal corn. mikec

Planting all over and corn & soybeans are up & looking good. I was worried when we had our last freeze a week or so ago, beans were just starting to come up. They look great now.

Planted half my corn last week, been just emptying the rain gauge since

We got just shy of 5 inches here Saturday night and Sunday. Things will be slowed for a week here but the rain sure caused a lot of plants to surge in growth. We have some real injury in winter wheat and alfalfa to contend with. Lot of seeding went in this spring. I am guessing a lot of the damaged fields will get cut for 1st cutting and worked up and planted for cornsilage. That is what is good for us here with an earlier spring.

Bryce

The corn and soybeans near me have been in for at least 2 to 3 weeks for the most part.

Keith

I have posted the USA growing degree days chart as of May 18,2020. The chart shows GDU's since January 1 2020. Note the significant less number of GDU's for places like northern MN, WI, MI and western NY The several days or weeks of north and northeast strong winds blowing off the Great Lakes have really kept us much cooler than normal and far cooler than areas just a hundred miles away.

Bryce

http://wicorn.ncgapremium.com/popup/weather_popup.cfm?map=us_gdd_640&key=fFom10JB9HCiSF7bQZ3IcBmhOrxaTT%2BF2ea5DzNkN3cx5Had8p%2BfBA%3D%3D