Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Southwest of Storm Lake

Counties of: Woodbury, Ida, Sac, Monona, Crawford, Harrison, Shelby

Past Weeks Rainfall: Spotty rainfall in past week
Soil Moisture: Drought Monitor shows “abnormally dry” across the western 75 miles of Iowa. Normal conditions across north-central Iowa and west as far as Sac County. 1/3 of topsoil is dry to very dry, 63% is “adequate”, 4% is surplus, 57% of subsoil is dry to very dry, 43% is “adequate”
Temperature: Varying temps with highs from the 70’s to 90’s, lows from 50’s to 60’s with several chances of rain. Growing degree days (heat units) are slightly behind last year.
Crop Progress: Corn emergence is 92% in west-central Iowa, soybeans 96% emerged. State is 92% & 88%.

Corn

Crop Stage: Corn roots are starting to catch the nitrogen, gaining height and green color.
Yield Potential: Normal

Soybean

Crop Stage: Soybeans are 3-6″ tall, good stands.
Yield Potential: Normal

Corn Market

Current Prices: $4.30/bu
Fall Prices: $4.03/bu
Past Weeks Trend: Range bound

Soybean Market

Current Prices: $10.10/bu
Fall Prices: $9.65/bu
Past Weeks Trend: Range bound

Comments:

Dennis Reyman AFM, ARA

I’ve maintained so far that most fields look “good” but few look “excellent”. Now that the corn roots are getting into the nitrogen, more fields are gaining in appearance and vigor. Corn grows from boot-high to head-high in the month of June and that rapid growth phase is now underway. Now is roughly the time that corn determines the number of rows around the ear. If 16 is considered the normal number, going to 18 or 14 rows a big deal. While each hybrid has its own tendencies, it seems that stress levels are quite low on most fields right now and we should see mostly 16-18 row ears later on, and occasionally some 20’s. Soybeans are in the vegetative growth phase and begin to flower after daylight begins shortening later this month. Knee-high beans by the 4th of July is a good goal but not necessarily for top yields. Generally, soybeans look good across the area.

Grain markets are extremely range-bound. Looking back at my posts of the past five weeks, corn and bean prices only changed by 2-3 cents. There have been days with more movement but nothing outside a very tight range. June is the time of year when we normally see some price volatility and some of the best prices. The tendency is for that to occur in mid-June, then drop back with perhaps a brief rally again in the first two weeks of July. After July 15th, the market usually fades to a pre-harvest low. Weather extremes can always affect prices, and this year perhaps trade news will have some brief impact.

Crop Update Achives

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

Market Conditions

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