Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Harvest is rolling right along here in northwest Iowa. Hot, dry weather has really pushed things along. Grain moisture in both corn and soybeans has dropped quickly. Most of the priority this week is on soybeans, but plenty of corn is ready to go as soon as farmers can get to it. Overall, we’re running a little ahead of schedule compared to a typical year.

The forecast for the next couple of weeks looks to stay warm, so soybean harvest should keep moving fast. By mid-October, most farmers will likely be switching over to corn. The warm, dry stretch has sped up crop maturity and dry down.

Soybean harvest is about 40% done in this area. The hot weather dried down early maturing beans a little too far with most fields now down below 10% moisture, which isn’t ideal. Once beans get that dry, shatter losses will increase, and yield takes a hit because of lost water weight. For example, at 8% moisture the yield loss on average is estimated at 5.4%, so if they were 80 bu per acre beans at 13% they would be 75.7 bu per acre beans at 8%. Even with that, soybean yields so far are looking above average overall.

Corn harvest has started in a few spots as well. Most of the early hybrids are already testing 16% moisture or less, which is quite dry for this time of year. That’s great for cutting down on drying costs, but it also means more harvest losses. The wind damage from storms this summer and widespread disease have taken a toll on the stalks. Southern rust was a big issue this season, and fields that received fungicide treatments have an advantage. Early corn yields are also coming in above average.