(NAFB.com) – The USDA said that as of April 20, 12% of the corn crop in the country’s top states has been planted. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 10%. According to the report, corn planting has begun in 17 of the top 18 states. Only North Dakota has no reported corn planted. At this time last year, just 15 states had started planting corn. Two percent of the corn crop has emerged across five of the top corn-growing states. That’s on track with the five-year average. The five states with corn emergence reported are Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The USDA said that as of April 20, 8% of the soybean crop in the nation’s top states was in the ground. That’s ahead of the five-year average of 5%. According to the report, soybean planting has begun in 14 of the top 18 states: Arkansas: 32%, Illinois: 10%, Indiana: 3%, Iowa: 11%, Kansas: 5%, Kentucky: 7%, Louisiana: 56%, Minnesota: 3%, Mississippi: 35%, Missouri: 15%, Nebraska: 2%, North Carolina: 7%, Tennessee: 15%, Wisconsin: 2%.