Tracking US Planting Progress In Gro

“Too much rainfall!” “Not enough moisture!” “Erratic precipitation!” Farmers rarely express satisfaction with the weather. The 2016/17 marketing season has been no different. While too much precipitation raises flooding concerns in Argentina, erratic rainfall in E. Africa risks damage to crop production potential in the region.

The same wide variance seen on a global scale appears within US borders. California is facing a deluge, parts of Florida and Georgia are facing a rainfall deficit, and farmers in the Midwest are looking at potential planting delays as a result of steady precipitation. Gro lets users easily track US planting progress. With two reports already released for this season, let’s see how we can use the data to evaluate crops’ current status.

How Best To Track US Planting Progress in Gro:

We recommend tracking national planting progress with a period-over-period chart.

The green line shows how many acres of corn were planted by US growers in relation to the USDA projection at each week during the 2016 planting season. The blue line shows the 5-year rolling average of corn planting progress across the 2016 planting season. Lastly, the red line indicates the number of acres of corn that have been planted by US growers in relation to the USDA projection, so far, in the 2017 planting season. The major benefit of Gro’s planting tracking tool is that it allows users to compare US planting progress to the year-ago season and the 5-year average.

How Best to Track State-Level Planting Progress in Gro:

For state-level planting progress, we suggest a bar-combo chart that allows a quick comparison of weekly planting completion rate versus the 5-year average in the respective state.

Based on last week’s data, US corn planting is roughly inline with last year and the 5-year average. However, the geographical distribution has been uneven with Texas making up for delays elsewhere. With frequent rainfall projected for parts of the Midwest, the northern Mississippi Delta, the Carolinas, and Virginia over the next two weeks, it’s important that users stay current on climate conditions and planting progress in Gro.