Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Most corn is very consistent at 3-5” tall. No-till planting seems to have taken over many more acres in this area in 2023, which was no doubt an effort to save valuable topsoil moisture. Corn will need steady rainfall throughout the growing season. Soybeans can get by on less until pod formation from late July to early September. Timely rains in late summer can really improve a bean crop. Corn, however, can lose considerable yield after pollination if moisture is inadequate for grain fill or if temperatures are too high during July, in particular.

Grain prices fell sharply from May 10 to 19th. Corn has recovered most of that loss but had also dropped into the mid-$6’s in late April. Soybeans lost about $1 per bushel from early to mid-May. They have recovered only slightly so far.

Dryness concerns in the Western Corn Belt have fueled some of the corn recovery. Corn and soybeans are both competing with the South American harvest hitting the world grain trade. Summer price rallies typically occur sometime in the first three weeks of June and sometime in early July.