Better weather helped Arkansas farmers make big strides in planting progress and most crops have caught up or exceeded the average annual pace.
Northeast Arkansas farmer Brad Doyle says they thought they’d get started early. “We thought we were going to really jump in in late March/early April because we had a dry harvest last year,” he says. “We were set up to have one of the strongest no-till plantings we’ve ever had.”
Corn planting jumped to 93% complete with 77% of the crop emerged. Seventy-two percent is rated good to excellent. Rice planting is 76% complete, slightly behind the average pace with 53% of the crop emerged, and 67% rated good to excellent. Soybeans are 57% planted with 36% of the crop emerged and 70% good to excellent. Cotton is 53% planted, running ahead of the average pace. Peanuts are 51% planted and 25% emerged.
Doyle says even with the slow start, he’s feeling good about his crops. “We’re still within the window of having good yields,” he says. “Delayed planting typically does eat away at yield potential, but we’re still about a month out from that coming into play.”
Winter wheat crop is 91% headed, 14% coloring, with 74% of the crop rated good to excellent.
