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Central Kentucky farmer says corn planting going quick in dry spring conditions

A farmer in central Kentucky says corn planting is moving quickly this spring.

“This is my twenty-second crop and it’s probably my second earliest spring I’ve experienced.”

Caleb Ragland tells Brownfield “we got started rolling good last Friday and we have about half of our crop planted, rolling right along. It’s a stark contrast to this time last year.”

Ragland, who is also president of the American Soybean Association, says some fields are getting extremely dry.

“I planted a river bottom that was pretty hard actually, that was about 15 feet under water this time last year.”

He says his winter wheat has a lot of potential, but it needs a drink of water as it grows ahead of schedule.

The USDA says planting is going at a faster than usual pace for many crops across the Delta. Corn planting is 24 percent complete in Kentucky and 42 percent complete in Tennessee.

Soybean planting is underway with planting 10 percent complete in Kentucky, 32 percent complete in Arkansas, and 36 percent complete in Tennessee.

In Arkansas, 40 percent of rice has been planted, with 15 percent of the crop emerged. Cotton planting is just getting started in Tennessee at three percent complete.