Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Widespread rainfall over the past week will help the crops at a crucial time. Much of our Northwest territory
was starting to show minor crop stress from dry conditions and warm weather. Corn and soybeans are both in the
early reproductive stages. The rain was welcome, but it did include high wind in some areas. Overall crops are in
very good condition.

Corn pollination is mostly completed at this point. Some corn is being treated with a fungicide for leaf diseases
and general plant health, but this is somewhat a preventative treatment as we are not finding severe symptoms at
this point. We expect above average yields in the corn.
Soybeans are starting to make pods. They will greatly benefit from the recent rainfall. We are starting to find low numbers of soybean aphids, which can be a serious pest in August. Some fields will need sprayed with an
insecticide over the next 3 weeks. The soybean crop has good potential at this point.

The grain markets have dropped considerably in the past two weeks. The summer grain rally started at the end of
June and lasted less than a month. It was started by wet weather in Illinois, Missouri, and other areas;
it was amplified by speculation traders. The weather stabilized mid July, so the markets softened. The drop was
amplified greatly by traders getting out of their positions.