Northeast Iowa Crop Conditions

Very limited corn planting has taken place in the area, with just a few fields planted last week before cold and rain moved in again over the weekend. Fortunately rain totals were not too high, but with another rain forecast for Tuesday/Wednesday, there will be little progress made this week. Crop progress reports released today show we are not alone. Corn planting in Iowa is 21% completed, 5% below normal. Nationwide, planting is 15% completed, 12% below normal.

The corn market has been stubbornly quiet in the face of slow planting. Unfortunately, the weather has been the only positive market news, with usage slow and world supplies creeping higher. Soybeans have even worse news, as on top of slow sales, delayed corn planting may lead to more soybean acres. Prices have dropped over 40¢/bu over the last 2 weeks. The
markets are heavily oversold and we are entering the growing season with no weather uncertainty premium. There will likely be a weather concern at some point, we just don’t know when and from which level it starts. From now through June is historically the strongest period for the grain markets.