Headline Stack
📊 USDA Crop Progress: corn 11% planted, soybeans 12% planted as of April 19
💰 April 30 SDRP deadline is eight days away for $16 billion in crop disaster relief
🌽 Pro Farmer survey: 20% of grain merchants report farmers cutting corn acres
⛽ NCGA calls permanent year-round E15 the "North Star" as emergency waiver clears 2026
🔬 University of Minnesota confirms glufosinate-resistant waterhemp in southern Minnesota
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📊 Corn planting hits 11% nationally, ahead of the five-year average. — LINK
Corn was 11% planted nationwide as of April 19, equal to last year and ahead of the five-year average of 9%, according to the USDA NASS Crop Progress report released Monday. Tennessee led the country at 64% complete — 40 points ahead of its 24% average pace — followed by Kentucky at 48%, Indiana at 14%, and Illinois at 13%. Soybeans ran 12% planted, five points ahead of last year and seven points ahead of the five-year average of 7%, with Illinois at 20% and Indiana at 19%. "The same corridor that has been getting the rainfall, from central and eastern Texas up through the Great Lakes looks like it will get another round of showers and thunderstorms along a front passing through on Thursday into Friday," said John Baranick, DTN Ag Meteorologist. Winter wheat conditions continued to slide, with 33% of the crop rated poor to very poor as of April 19 — up 12 percentage points from 21% a year ago — amid building drought across the southern Plains.
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💰 SDRP application window closes April 30 for $16B in disaster relief — LINK
Both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the USDA Supplemental Disaster Relief Program close April 30, distributing more than $16 billion for crop losses in calendar years 2023 and 2024, with a 35% payment factor applied across both stages and total payments capped at 90% of the loss.
Stage 1 applicants — producers with indemnified losses who received crop insurance or NAP payments — file Form FSA-526; Stage 2 applicants with non-indemnified or quality losses file Form FSA-504.
All SDRP recipients must carry federal crop insurance or NAP coverage at 60% or higher for the next two available crop years or repay the full payment plus interest; Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, and Massachusetts are excluded from direct payments and instead share $220 million in block grants.
🌽 Pro Farmer survey: 20% of merchants report corn acres cut since war began — LINK
A Farmer's Keeper survey of nearly 4,000 grain merchants across 27 states found 20% of respondents reporting farmers have reduced corn acreage since the Iran war began, with fertilizer cost and availability driving the cuts.
The most pronounced acreage adjustments are occurring on the fringes of the Corn Belt — the northern Plains, southern Plains, and Southeast — rather than in the core Midwest.
The survey was conducted after USDA's March 31 Prospective Plantings report, making it a post-baseline readout on how the Hormuz-driven nitrogen price spike is reshaping 2026 intentions.
⛽ NCGA pushes for permanent year-round E15 after 2026 emergency waiver — LINK
EPA has issued its 2026 emergency waiver clearing E15 for summer sales, the latest in a multi-year string of annual waivers as NCGA pursues permanent year-round status through the farm bill or appropriations.
"I call it our North Star, and we see year round E15 as not only our top legislative priority, but one of the most in-reach opportunities to drive that demand, you know at its essence," said Lesly Weber McNitt, National Corn Growers Association vice president of public policy.
Weber McNitt cited the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its impact on U.S. energy prices as reinforcing the case for domestic fuel alternatives; narrow House and Senate margins have limited standalone legislative movement.
🔬 Glufosinate-resistant waterhemp confirmed in southern Minnesota — LINK
The University of Minnesota has confirmed a waterhemp population in southern Minnesota resistant to glufosinate ammonium — the active ingredient in Liberty herbicide — eliminating one of the main tools for emerged waterhemp control in soybeans, a weed that can cut soybean yields by as much as 70%.
"There aren't too many more scary things than even a single emerged waterhemp plant," said Eric Schultz, BASF Technical Representative, who pointed to residual herbicides and controlling waterhemp before emergence as the path forward.
The confirmation lands as Upper Midwest soybean growers are finalizing pre-plant residual herbicide decisions; the University of Minnesota continues to monitor resistance across multiple herbicide groups.
20% of nearly 4,000 grain merchants surveyed across 27 states report farmers cutting corn acres since the Iran war began, driven by fertilizer cost and availability pressures.