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Kentucky crops: 52% corn, 35% soybeans planted

Significant planting progress has been made across much of Kentucky.

But that’s not the case for Caleb Ragland of Magnolia. “We were able to get about 40% of our corn planted in late April,” he says. “I have not planted a seed in the month of May.”

Statewide, 52 percent of the corn crop has been planted with 33 percent emerged.  Soybeans are 35 percent planted, and 15 percent emerged. Tobacco set is at 3 percent, behind both last year and the 5-year average.

He tells Brownfield the weather has made fungicide applications for wheat a bit of a challenge. “We put our floater tires back on our sprayer for applying our fungicide, it was so wet,” he says.  “The timeliness of that application is so critical. You have a narrow window that you must hit.  All of our wheat goes for milling, so it has to be food grade quality.”

Seventy percent of the state’s wheat crop is rated good to excellent, and 76 percent of the crop is headed.

Ragland says it’s been an extraordinarily wet start to the year. “I have measured over 40 inches of rainfall on some of the farms that we farm since the 1st of January,” he says.  “My range this year, so far, is from about 32 to 42 inches.”

Ninety-nine percent of both topsoil and subsoil moisture are called adequate to surplus.

Pasture conditions continue to improve and are rated 74 percent good to excellent.