Northwest Crop Conditions

The second week of April was warm enough to get some planters moving in Northwest Iowa (mostly south of Hwy 10). Soil temperatures at 4 inches deep shot up to around 60 degrees, but that only lasted a few days.  This week, temperatures are back below average and are forecast to stay cool throughout the rest of the month. The earlier weather models predicting warm temperatures to persist in April were wrong. This weekend temperatures are expected to hit lows of around 23 degrees.  Rainfall has been erratic so far this month. Generally, this region is still way behind on soil moisture. In many areas there’s less moisture available now than last year at this time. Even still, there should be enough topsoil moisture to get crops started.

I’d say maybe 15% of NW Iowa corn is planted overall but much more is planted on the south side of the territory and less to the north.  It’s a fast start compared to average planting progress before April 20th.  Some farmers are nearly done planting and other farmers haven’t started yet (both in the same neighborhood). I think it’s been a tough call this year. Planting early typically helps maximize yields if you get a good stand, but the cold soil can reduce stand quality which reduces yield. Ideally, we want all the corn plants to emerge at the same time, so the plant size and spacing are as consistent as possible.  However, waiting for perfect conditions could push the planting dates well into May depending on rainfall, so it’s a question of risk & reward.