Counties of: Woodbury, Ida, Sac, Monona, Crawford, Harrison, Shelby
Corn planting proceeded at a very fast pace in the region this week. The area probably went from 10% planted to
over 90% planted in seven days. Consider that a corn planter of 60’ width (24 rows at 30 ” each) traveling at 5
mph can cover about 36 acres in an hour. If he could plant 72 hours uninterrupted, that planter could cover about
2,600 acres. However, things like turning, filling with seed or fuel, road time, and sleep all tend to slow one down,
so figuring 60% field efficiency would still allow that planter to cover 1,500 acres in 72 hours. It is truly amazing
how much can get accomplished quickly when given a week of great weather. Many farmers have moved on to
soybean planting, and a few are done with that. But overall, soybean planting is probably between 10-20% done
in the area right now.
Corn markets continue to be pressured by fast planting progress, avian flu, and large supply of ’14 crop yet to
come off the farm. Don’t expect much rally unless/until summer weather poses a threat. Soybeans have
shown more strength than corn, continuing to trade around the middle of the post-harvest price range. New-crop
bids are not attractive, but do have reasonable price targets to get sales moving this spring/summer. Land sales
are few in quantity. Sale results are all over the board. Strong livestock areas have seen a few excellent sale
results lately
Please click on the links on the right to view the past pdf’s of our Southwest Crop Conditions reports.
1705 N Lake Ave
Storm Lake, IA 50588
Real Estate Licensed in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Stay informed and connected—subscribe to our mailing list today to receive the latest issues of Today’s Land Owner, Crop Updates, or get notified of auctions and real estate for sale, sent directly in your inbox!