Half the Country’s Corn Crop Already Out of the Ground, USDA Says

Today, USDA published the seventh Crop Progress report of the 2025 growing season. Here’s a look at the latest corn, soybean, wheat, and oat numbers.

Corn Crop Progress

As of May 18, 78% of the corn crop across the country’s top 18 corn-growing states had been planted. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 73%.

Half of the corn crop had emerged across the top corn-growing states as of May 18. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 40%.

Soybean Crop Progress

The USDA said that as of May 18, 66% of the soybean crop across the top soybean-growing states had been planted. The five-year average is 53%.

As of May 18, 34% of the soybean crop had emerged across the 18 states, compared to the five-year average of 23%.

Winter Wheat Progress and Condition

The USDA reported that 64% of the winter wheat crop across 16 of the top 18 states had headed as of May 18. The five-year average is 58%.

For the week ended May 18, the condition of the nation’s winter wheat crop was as follows:

• Good/excellent: 52%
• Fair: 30%
• Poor/very poor: 18%

Spring Wheat Progress

In the top six spring wheat-growing states, 82% of the crop had been planted as of May 18. That’s notably ahead of the five-year average of 65%.

Forty-five percent of the crop had emerged across all six states by May 18, which is 11 points ahead of the five-year average.

Oat Crop Progress

Across the nine top oat-growing states, 91% of the season’s planting is complete, according to the USDA. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 83%.

Across all nine states, 71% of the oat crop had emerged by May 18, six points ahead of the five-year average.

For the week ending May 18, the condition of the nation’s oat crop was as follows:

• Good/excellent: 50%
• Fair: 35%
• Poor/very poor: 15%