Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

If planting wasn’t completed in record pace, it was certainly the fastest in a longtime. Planting capacity is not only due to wider planters but also the seed tenders which eliminate the need for dumping small bags, and higher speed capabilities. A great number of terraces were flattened this spring which allows for greater accommodation of wide machinery and more efficient field operations. This might be perceived as bad for soil conservation;however, these terraces constructed int he 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were built when heavy tillage was much more prevalent and blackened the topsoil. That’s no longer the case, as modern equipment is much better able to conserve crop residues and/or plant straight into heavy crop residue cover. Soil remains protected from downpours while water infiltration is promoted with limited tillage. Many tillage practices actually compact the topsoil, especially when done in too-wet conditions.

Grain markets have hopefully found a bottom and have worked ever so slightly higher over the past several weeks. Today’s downturn brought them back down to only a few cents higher than our previous report. Most grain analysts believe the bottom is in and that there is hope for old-crop corn seeing much over $3.00 cash price at best. That may not occur at elevators but may at end-users like feed mills or possibly ethanol plants. Beans are tighter inventories and have more potential than corn for higher prices. USDA’s May 12th monthly report placed the average on- farm corn price at $3.20 for the 2020/21 crop as compared to $3.60 for the current year.Beans are forecast at $8.20 versus $8.50 for this past crop.