Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Harvest started this week in Northwest Iowa. Many farmers started combining early soybeans, the mid to late
soybeans are not ready yet. Very little corn has been harvested other than what was cut for silage. The biggest
holdup now is wet soil conditions. Some areas have received over 3 inches of rain in the past week. These
wet areas will need time to dry. Heavy equipment on wet soils could cause compaction problems for next season.

The soybean yield reports that I’ve heard so far have been very good. It will be interesting to see if the mid to late season beans are as good as the early beans. This looks to be one of the best bean crops we have seen for this area. As always, soybean yields will still be variable due to differences in drainage, disease pressure (white mold),insect feeding, weed control, fertility, rainfall, variety, planting date, and many other factors.

Corn is in the dry down stage. Most corn is currently 24% to 30% moisture; we would like to see it dry under 20%
before harvest. This time of year we worry a lot about the stand ability of corn. We had a fair amount of disease
this year which can lead to stalk rot problems. Most fields are standing fairly good but there are problem spots.
The challenge with corn harvest is waiting long enough for it to dry to an acceptable level without increasing
harvest loss. Corn yields will also be variable depending on many factors. I expect we will have good yields but
maybe not record yields in our area.