This is FIRST's 25th year of organizing corn and soybean seed trials. To celebrate, we have been looking back at reporting over the years. This month, we'll review the planting dates in the program from 2008-2020. These graphics show the typical distribution of seeding dates and the effects of weather in each year.

Both maps have the same scale for planted day of the year, with cooler blues for April-early May plantings and warmer oranges for late May-June. Typically, corn comes first for FIRST, as seed is due to Field Managers on February 15, while soybean seed is due March 1.

Click on the figures to go to the online interactive versions of these maps — where you can zoom in on the map, start and stop the animation, and hover over any location to see the plant and harvest dates and grain yield at harvest.

To celebrate our 25th year, we will continue to share analysis of other factors associated with yield and agronomic performance using detailed FIRST records. To date, there have been more than 900,000 mini-strips planted, maintained, measured at harvest, and reported in the corn grain program, and almost 300,000 in the soybean program.

We will provide updates on the collaborative work of FIRST managers, host farmers, and seed sponsors who have entered their products this year. We are proud to serve the agricultural industry to increase yield and profitability for American farmers. Thanks for joining us!