Corn crop in Arkansas planted

Nearly all of the state’s corn crop has been planted, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 98% of Arkansas’ projected 710,000 corn acres are in the ground. This comes as fertilizer prices continue to surge.

The state remains well ahead of the national pace. The USDA reported that 87% of the nation’s total corn crop has been planted, slightly behind the pace from 2024.

Unrelenting rains throughout the month of May shortened the planting window for many producers and caused other problems. Some corn had to be replanted.

“It’s been a challenging year. A lot of that corn planted in March ended up being replanted. It’s been wet in a lot of areas since April 1. We’ve had a few days here and there to get everything done,” said Jason Kelley, extension wheat and feed grains agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Of the 265,000 corn acres that had been planted in Arkansas by the end of March, approximately 53,000 acres were replanted after major rain and flooding events in early April, according to USDA.

“There’s a number of farmers who thought they were going to replant corn, who, now that we’re at the end of May, just never really got the chance and are sticking with their original suboptimal stand,” said Kelley.

According to USDA, there were 2.3 days “suitable for fieldwork” from May 18-25. Growers reported 54% of farm topsoil to be in a moisture surplus, along with a subsoil moisture surplus on 48% of acreage.

Kelley said Arkansas growers unable to replant lost corn acres in April or May will forego the crop, as the declining potential yield associated with very late planting makes the effort unprofitable.

“Our planting date studies have shown that after about May 1, yields generally start dropping off from late planting,” said Kelley. “If budgets are already tight, you’ve got to have a pretty good yield to break even — and the profitability’s going down every day once we get into May.”