Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Warm dry weather this past week allowed for perfect planting conditions; the right combination of dry soil on the
surface and moisture a few inches down. Some areas received rain over the weekend which will be beneficial to
newly planted crops. The first planted corn will start emerging this week.

Soybeans are planted shallower than corn, so in many areas they are currently in dry soil. They will need a rain to
get started. Most of the soybeans will be planted in the next week or two depending on the weather. Soybeans
can emerge as quickly as 6 days in warm moist soil conditions.

The Bird Flu virus has spread throughout Iowa to millions of poultry. When a commercial poultry operation gets it,
all birds are destroyed and the buildings must be empty for months for disinfection. This will likely have a negative effect on the local corn basis levels because of less feed demand.