Wet weather in US may hinder corn planting briefly, long-term outlook favorable

New Delhi — Weather conditions in parts of the US right now may slow down planting of corn in affected areas but the longer-term weather forecast for the country looks favorable, according to experts.

Parts of the southern US have been bit by severe weather conditions with thunderstorms and tornadoes hitting the region.

Corn planting in the South typically begins a little earlier than the Midwest -- the largest corn producing area of the US.

"Wet weather is expected across the southern Midwest, south central and southeastern US over the next week, which will slow corn planting a bit," said Kyle Tapley, senior meteorologist with Maxar.

Below-normal temperatures will also slow fieldwork and germination of corn across the northern Delta and southeastern Midwest, Tapley added.

"The excessively wet weather in the South is a problem, but just a small percentage of our nation's corn is grown in the impacted areas of the South," said Arlan Suderman, chief economist with INTL FCStone.

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

"Weather conditions should become more favorable for corn planting across most of the Midwest late this month into early May, with precipitation and temperatures returning to normal levels across most of the Midwest," said Tapley.

The long term forecast for the Midwest shows temperatures and precipitation near normal for most of the summer, Tapley said. "Overall, the long-term outlook is generally favorable," he added.

Weather forecast currently suggests that most of the Midwest should have sufficient windows of opportunity over the next five to six weeks to get crops planted, said Suderman from FCStone.

Corn planting has started in most parts of the US and as of Sunday 7% of the intended corn acreage was planted, data from the US Department of Agriculture's Crop Progress report showed. The USDA has estimated corn acreage in the country in 2020-21 (September-August) to be at 96.99 million acres, the largest since 2012.