As of May 6, 2012, 71 percent of the 2012 U.S. corn crop had been planted, compared with an average of 47 percent between 2007 and 2011 and 32 percent in 2011.

As of the same date, 32 percent of the expected crop had emerged, compared with a 2007-11 average of 13 percent and 6 percent last year. Subsequent Crop Progress reports showed the pace continuing at an advanced rate with 96 percent planted as of May 20th compared to a 2007-11 average of 81 percent.

Early planting boosts the projected yield for 2012 above the yield trend (which is based on actual yields from 1990 to 2010) to 166.0 bushels per acre, compared with last year’s weather-reduced yield of 147.2 bushels per acre.

Rapid planting and emergence could also lead to an early harvest of some of the 2012 corn crop, potentially reducing estimates of feed and residual disappearance for the last quarter (June-August) of the 2011/12 marketing year. This chart comes from Feed Outlook, FDS-12e, May 2012.