Crop Conditions

Western Iowa and surrounding areas are finally receiving much-needed rain. The first half of May was quite dry, leaving many seeds sitting in dry soil waiting for moisture to emerge. The extended forecast is favorable, with additional chances for rain over the next week along with normal to above-normal temperatures. Very few farms remain to be planted, although there are a handful of fields that may need to be replanted due to poor stand.

Last weekend, strong storms including high winds, hail, and multiple tornadoes moved through northwest Iowa. While there were many reports of property damage, crop damage appears to have been limited. On corn the growing point was still below ground, and most soybean fields had not yet emerged.

Essentially all the corn crop is now planted, with most fields in the second- to third-leaf stage at just a few inches tall. Plant populations and stand quality are not perfect this year. In some areas, a hard pounding rain in late April was followed by an extended dry stretch in May, leading to widespread soil crusting issues. I do not recall another year with this much rotary hoeing to break crusts and help save corn stands. Areas that missed the heavy April rains still struggled with emergence because of dry topsoil and cool temperatures. Overall, most corn fields achieved acceptable populations, but a limited number of fields may still need to be replanted.

Nearly all soybeans in the area are now planted also and have either recently emerged or should emerge very soon. Soybeans also had slow and uneven emergence from crusted soils and dry, cool conditions. On many farms, it is still too early to count populations because some plants are still emerging. There may be some soybean acres to replanted in early June, but I don’t think it will be very many.