Nationwide, corn planting progress is more than 80 percent complete, and soybean planting progress also is well ahead of normal.

Overall, the planting season was excellent in the major corn and soybean production states of the Midwest. On a local level, it seems the months of April and May were switched. May has been cold and wet, while April was warm and dry.

The killing frost from earlier this month took away any hope of a harvest from sweet corn that was not under plastic. Some fruit trees and berries also suffered significant frost damage. Field corn that was burned off from the frost will recover normally, although soybeans will not. Locally, at least those planted had yet to emerge.

The local planting pace is probably 10 days or so behind normal, which should not cause a concern at this point. On a positive note, farmers who are harvesting hay as haylage are reporting very good yields for early May.

One item producers could strike off their to-do list is to contact the Farm Service Agency and get ahead of some of the upcoming deadlines: June 1, enroll base acres; June 15, report planted acres of small grains and report all other crops including CREP acreage; and Aug. 1, final day to request a farm reconstitution if changing boundaries and/or owners.

This is particularly important for producers who farm new land each year. Sometimes, waiting until July 15 to visit FSA could mean not getting base acres enrolled timely. It is probably better to contact FSA sooner rather than later.

It also is time to nominate producers to the FSA County Committee. The election will be held this fall in central Butler County and northern Beaver County. More information will be provided later on in the FSA election process.

Producers who have questions or need more information can contact the office at 724-482-4800, Ext. 2, or 724-775-2369, Ext. 2.

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.