Southeast Iowa Crop Conditions

Favorable growing conditions have been received SE of Storm Lake. Soybeans planted the last week of May have emerged from the soil. There have been a number of widespread rain events received in the last 10 days. In most cases the rain came down mostly gradual with some isolated events of heavy rains. Between the rains, day time high temperatures have been in the mid to upper 70s. The windy conditions have also subsided aiding the second herbicide application most corn fields will receive. There have been many sprayers out this week.

The weather is expected to stay in a similar pattern for the remainder of this week. The extended weather outlook looks to turn warmer and drier.

News of negotiations with Russia to allow Ukraine to ship more grain on the Black Sea in exchange for reduced sanctions last week added weakness to both corn and soybeans. So far this week, that seems like a distant possibility and the markets have rebound regaining lost ground. This will be a closely watched topic this growing season.

Weather worries, or lack thereof, will also impact our prices moving forward. We are currently in a La Nina weather pattern which could mean hot, dry conditions as the summer progresses as some long range models are predicting. Excessive heat and dry conditions during corn pollination will impact yield. Locally subsoil moisture conditions have improved and are at better levels than we were at one year ago.