CHICAGO (Reuters) — Farmers around the U.S. Midwest picked up their pace of planting during the past week but growers were still behind their typical schedule because soils remained too wet and cold across much of the region, analysts said on Monday.
Corn planting was expected to be 33 percent complete, according to the average of estimates in a Reuters poll of 14 analysts. Estimates ranged from 25 to 38 percent.
A week ago, corn planting stood at 19 percent. The five-year average for early May is 47 percent.
The U.S. Agriculture Department will release its weekly crop progress and conditions report Monday afternoon.
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Growers aim to have the bulk of their corn planted by the middle of May so the crop will have matured past its key pollination phase before the hottest part of the summer in the Midwest. Corn that pollinates under stress from the heat can produce lower yields at harvest.
Analysts also were expecting the USDA report to show that soybean planting was eight percent finished, up from three percent a week ago, and spring wheat planting 26 percent complete.
The five-year averages for soybean and spring wheat planting are 12 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
Dry and hot weather in the U.S. Plains likely eroded winter wheat conditions during the past week, further lowering yield prospects for the stressed crop in that area.
Analysts pegged good-to-excellent ratings for the U.S winter wheat crop at 31 percent, down two percentage points from a week ago.
