Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Northwest Iowa made good progress on soybean harvest last week. Many farmers were able to harvest half or more of their bean crop. We are getting some light rain today, but our extended forecast is dry with above average temperatures. Soybean harvest should wrap-up in another week or two. Farmers will then focus on harvesting the corn, which will be a slower pace compared to the beans.

Soybean yields continue to be variable. Areas with poor or slow drainage are yielding between 20 and 40 bushels per acre, and areas with well drained soils and good fertility are yielding between 50 and 70 bushels per acre. Later maturing soybeans are a little too wet to harvest; by the end of the week all soybeans should be ready to harvest.

Very little corn is harvested in this area except for silage corn and high moisture corn for feed use. Most corn is still in the mid to upper 20’s for moisture %. Corn is around 30% moisture when it reaches maturity, so it is making some progress. The weather is expected to be favorable for corn drying over the next 10 days. We like to get corn somewhat dry (under 20%) in the field to save drying costs