Counties of: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sioux
Crop fields are starting to turn fall colors. Warm, dry weather recently is pushing crops toward maturity. Most farms were on the dry side over the past couple weeks. A widespread rain to finish the growing season would still be nice, but it wouldn’t improve yields much at this point outside of some late maturity or late planted crops. Despite the late dry spell, the second half of this growing season provided very good weather for crops overall, especially in August. The next two-week outlook shows more warm weather with better chances of rain starting next week.
Most corn fields are a week or more away from full maturity, but there’s a wide range of maturity because of the extended planting season. The corn is starting to turn yellowish brown, especially the lower leaves, which is a normal part of maturing. The biggest issues we are finding this season in the corn are root or stand issues stemming from the wet spring, southern rust is a big one, and nitrogen deficiency. Despite these issues, I’m finding very good yield estimates in areas outside of the “wet spots”. Generally, the farther south in this territory the better. Overall, this territory should have average or better yields but with a wide variability.
Soybeans are on schedule for a normal harvest timeline in late September and early October. Many fields are just starting to turn yellow this week. Rain would still help the bean fields that are still green. There was a lot of pressure from aphids this year, probably the worst I’ve seen in over 10 years. Many fields had to be sprayed with insecticide twice. There are also a variety of plant diseases in the soybeans, but maybe not as bad as I expected given the conditions. The weather is August was about perfect for making beans. I expect generally above average soybean yields.
Please click on the links on the right to view the past pdf’s of our Northwest Crop Conditions reports.
1705 N Lake Ave
Storm Lake, IA 50588
Real Estate Licensed in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Stay informed and connected—subscribe to our mailing list today to receive the latest issues of Today’s Land Owner, Crop Updates, or get notified of auctions and real estate for sale, sent directly in your inbox!