This week's USDA Crop Progress report shows farmers are getting their corn in the ground, generally, at the quickest national pace on record. So, beyond just having time to stop and take a breath, then knock out other spring work, what are the implications for farmers and grain marketers of a quick and painless corn planting season?

Farmers will likely reach the halfway point to corn planting this spring faster than any year in the last half-century in states like Illinois and Indiana. Though other states aren't knocking off records quite as readily, the pace is still swift. But, it's not the first year for such a pace, and it won't be the last.

• Talk: Above trend, trend or below trend?
• Read more: Corn planters roll at breakneck pace 
• Slideshow: Planting roaring by for this farmer
• See more from Irwin & Good
  

This year, the planting pace has one major potential implication. The first, say University of Illinois ag economists Scott Irwin and Darrel Good, is in yield. If most of the crop's getting into the ground early, that means fewer acres will be planted later and incurring the yield penalty with doing so. So, barring any major problems during the growing season, it's safe to estimate average yields just above trend.