(AKRON, IA) Corn planting is starting early across the country, especially here in Iowa. With the warm winter we've had, producers are planting now, close to a week early. The Department of Agriculture says that in Iowa, farmers are planting corn at a rate five times faster than last year.
"When we started it was real dry, and we weren't getting the corn in moisture, but now we've had couple really nice rains, and it's just working great," said Kevin DeRocher, a corn farmer in Akron, Iowa.
He's talking about Iowa's leading crop. Warm temperatures have contributed to great growing conditions for corn farmers, and DeRocher couldn't be happier.
"Everyone wants to go a little quicker cause its seems to always yield a little better, the earlier you get it in," he said.
According to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 17 percent of the nation's corn crop is already in the ground, compared to last year's number which was only 5 percent. And DeRocher says this is the earliest he's ever planted corn.
"We started on the 12th, I believe, which was the earliest you could start for crop insurance," he said.
He says his corn crop will start coming up in about two and a half weeks, and hopes the spring weather continues. DeRocher plants not only corn, but beans as well. He says his crops should be ready to harvest sometime in the fall, at least by the first week of October.
