Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Planting progress is running slightly ahead of normal despite cool temperatures and widespread rainfall over the past few weeks. Around 40% of corn and 10% of soybeans are planted in our Northwest region overall, but areas within that region are well ahead or behind that pace. Generally, the southern side of the region including Plymouth, Cherokee, and BV Counties (or farther south) are well ahead of the northern counties in planting progress. Rainfall amounts over the past two weeks ranged from about one inch to over four inches in parts of Sioux and Lyon counties, so the areas with more rain are still too wet to plant. For the first time in about four years, we don’t necessarily want more rain for now.

Soil temperatures shot up to the mid 60’s around April 13th, then cooled rapidly the following week after cold and rainy conditions. The soil remains somewhat cool this week, but it’s managed to warm above the 50-degree mark. Plus, the two-week weather outlook is warmer than average with multiple rain chances. The planting windows look to be short through the first week of May. I expect most of the corn will be planted on the southern side of this region by late this week before the next round of rain. However, progress will be limited on the northern side, especially on poorly drained fields.

The first planted corn has already been in the ground for nearly two weeks. The picture above shows the corn seedling progress so far. It will be at least another week before it emerges. Despite the slow emergence, I don’t expect the early planted will have widespread stand issues. In perfect warm soil, corn can emerge in as little as five days, but three weeks is more typical for April planting. Overly wet soil can cause issues with soil compaction, crusting, and plant diseases. We haven’t had to worry about wet soil conditions much over the past three seasons, but it will be an issue to watch for this spring.

Soybean planting should be in full swing over the next few weeks as more farmers finish the corn. Soybean yields can benefit from early planting. However, we have had areas of frost damage in late-May two of the last three years. Temperatures at or below 28 degrees can kill young soybean plants. Planting progress will happen very quickly when opportunity arrives, so there’s no reason to be worried about late planting until later in the second half of May.