The fact that corn is now planted earlier than ever before is not a surprise to most of you. Many have discussed this and have known intuitively that it has happened. Although we are still in the middle of the growing season, let's take a step back and investigate overall trends occurring in Iowa. In this article, we look at National Agricultural Statistics Service data on corn planting progress over the last three decades to add some actual numbers to the discussion. By comparing when 50 percent of the corn crop has been planted, it is clear that planting has occurred steadily earlier as shown in the figure.