Row Crops Today — May 5, 2026
The 5-minute 5 AM brief for row crop producers and ag professionals
Headline Stack
📋 USDA doubles SDRP payment factor to 70%, extends deadline to August 12
📊 Iowa corn planting reaches 42%, five points behind 2025 pace
🌍 Grain markets eye mid-May U.S./China meeting for soybean purchase commitments
📉 USDA prospective planting survey response rate falls to record one-third
🔬 Urea prices up 54% since late February, squeezing planting input budgets
Top Story
📋 USDA doubles SDRP payment factor to 70% and extends deadline to August 12. — LINK
USDA has raised the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payment factor from 35% to 70% and extended the application deadline for both Stage 1 and Stage 2 from April 30 to August 12. Producers with approved applications will receive an additional 35 percentage points of their calculated SDRP payment, and all future SDRP payments will be issued at the new 70% factor. The program covers eligible crop, tree, bush and vine losses tied to qualifying 2023 and 2024 natural disasters, including floods, derechos, excessive heat, tornadoes, freeze events and qualifying drought. "By extending the program deadline and making available this additional payment, we are continuing to put farmers first during this difficult farm economy," said Brooke Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. To qualify for drought-related losses, the loss must have occurred in a county rated D2 by the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks, or D3 or greater, during the applicable calendar year. FSA has already disbursed $6.7 billion in SDRP payments to date.
More This Week
📊 Iowa corn planting reaches 42%, five points behind last year. — LINK
Iowa corn planting hit 42% complete for the week ending May 3, five points behind last year's 47% pace, while soybeans reached 27%, nine points behind 2025's 36% mark; growers had 4.2 days suitable for fieldwork.
"April will go down as one of the wettest on record," said Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, who added that the forecast trends "a bit cooler and drier through the first few weeks of May, which should give farmers a longer window to keep the planters running."
Topsoil moisture rated 81% adequate and 9% surplus statewide; subsoil moisture rated 78% adequate and 7% surplus, with the statewide average temperature of 50.7°F running 3.2°F above normal.
🌍 Grain markets eye mid-May U.S./China meeting for soybean buys. — LINK
The U.S. and China are scheduled to meet in mid-May, with grain traders watching for old-crop soybean purchase commitments from Chinese buyers.
"Maybe some more purchase commitments of U.S. ag products to access the U.S. consumer market, right? Those are things that we've seen in the past," said Ben Brown, University of Missouri Extension ag economist, who added: "Could we see, maybe some meat, pork, for instance? Could we see, corn and grain sorghum as part of those purchase commitments? I think those are all possible."
Brown said pre-meeting signals will provide insight ahead of the talks; discussions could broaden beyond soybeans to include corn, pork and grain sorghum.
📉 USDA prospective planting survey response rate hits record low. — LINK
Just over a third of the 73,800 farm operations contacted for USDA's March 2026 prospective planting survey responded, a record low, down from about 60% in 2018.
"I don't trust the data, I don't trust the process, I don't trust their people," said Ben Riensche, an Iowa farmer. "And they monkey with my business."
USDA's January crops report unexpectedly raised the U.S. corn crop estimate 1.6% to a record 17.021 billion bushels, triggering Chicago futures' biggest daily decline in years and deepening farmer skepticism of agency data.
🔬 Urea prices up roughly 54% since late February. — LINK
Urea prices have risen roughly 54% since late February, with reported prices climbing to about $700 per ton from $455 per ton, according to Harvest Public Media reporting on the input-cost squeeze.
Economists warn the elevated fertilizer and fuel costs could persist for months, weighing on producer margins through the 2026 growing season.
The cost pressure is accelerating documented acreage shifts from corn — a more nitrogen-intensive crop — toward soybeans across the Midwest.
Basis Watch
On Monday, May 4th, old-crop corn basis at Illinois Wabash firmed by as much as 11 cents. Colorado North Central improved 5 cents on both the old-crop July and new-crop December contracts, and Kentucky Pennyrile strengthened 3 cents on the top end. Most Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota locations moved only 1 to 2 cents, with South Dakota East Central and Minnesota South each softening 2 cents on parts of their range.
In soybeans, Nebraska Southeast firmed 10 cents on the old-crop July, Missouri West and Ohio Central each improved 10 cents, and Illinois North Central strengthened 7 cents. Illinois West weakened 5 cents on the new-crop November. The 25-cent jump at Missouri Southwest on old-crop May was well beyond what any other location posted.
Source: USDA AMS
USDA has disbursed $6.7 billion in Supplemental Disaster Relief Program payments to date, and the newly doubled 70% payment factor means eligible producers with approved applications will receive an additional 35 percentage points before the August 12 deadline.
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