Illinois corn growers near end of spring planting

ST. LOUIS -- Corn growers in Illinois and elsewhere are nearing the homestretch of their spring planting.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says 95 percent of Illinois' corn crop is now in the ground. That's 7 percentage points above the average pace of the previous five years.

Eighty-one percent of Illinois' corn crop already has emerged, up 21 percent over the national average.

Nationwide, 88 percent of the corn crop is planted.

Missouri growers have 97 percent of their corn crop in the ground. Iowa has 96 percent of its crop planted, having caught up from a slow start because of a soggy early spring.

With their corn now growing, farmers have turned to planting soybeans. Illinois has 64 percent of that crop in the ground, with Missouri at 61 percent.