Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Crop Conditions

Northwest of Storm Lake

Counties of: Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sioux

Past Weeks Rainfall: .5 to 4 inches
Soil Moisture: Excess
Temperature: Normal
Crop Progress: Good planting progress and crop growth

Corn

Crop Stage: 4 to 10 inches (V3 to V5)
Yield Potential: Average

Soybean

Crop Stage: Just emerged to 3 inches
Yield Potential: Average

Corn Market

Current Prices: $4.39/bu
Fall Prices: $4.24/bu
Past Weeks Trend: 21 cents lower

Soybean Market

Current Prices: $11.16/bu
Fall Prices: $11/bu
Past Weeks Trend: 45 cents lower

Comments:

Chad Husman AFM

The persistent rainy weather pattern looks to be shifting drier after today’s expected rain event, so hopefully the next 10 days will finally be the window to catch up on the last planting acres and first post-emerge herbicide applications. This is the most challenging planting season since 2019. The image above shows this spring was the wettest out of the past 132 years from April 15th to June 2nd, which is essentially the normal planting window. Despite that, most crops were planted in this region by June 1st which is near average. Planting delays and flooding were a bigger problem in 2019, mostly because the ground water, rivers, and streams were already full going into that spring. This spring we had plenty of room in the tank after four years of drought, so the flooding wasn’t as bad overall. However, particular areas and farms did have severe flooding and excessive soil erosion this spring similar or worse than 2019. Parts of this region are still saturated or flooded today.

Nearly all corn in this region is now planted outside of smaller wet spots. Most corn is 4 to 10 inches tall now and growing quickly. The corn farther south in this region is generally farther ahead than to the north. Farms with good natural drainage or plenty of tile have a big advantage this spring. Planting conditions were generally too wet, so farmers had to push their comfort level to get done. Many small wet spots were replanted over the past couple of weeks. We may have issues down the road with compaction, root development, nitrogen loss, and uneven corn size which could hurt yields depending on weather conditions later this summer. When wet springs abruptly turn hot and dry the crops quickly suffer because of poor root development. For now, the corn crop looks generally good outside of the wet spots, but it’s been a far from perfect start.

Soybeans are now nearly all planted and most have recently emerged. There were fewer emergence & stand issues with the beans this spring compared to corn even though most beans were also planted into wet soil. The frequent rain was the cause of the problem and the solution at the same time. When planting into wet soil we don’t want it to dry out too quickly because the top couple inches will get a hard crust before the beans can emerge. So, the frequent rain and warm soil helped with emergence (outside of the saturated or flooded areas). Soybean planting should be completed over the next week or so ahead of the final crop insurance plant date of June 15th.

Crop Update Achives

Please click on the links on the right to view the past pdf’s of our Northwest Crop Conditions reports.

Market Conditions

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