Northeast Iowa Crop Conditions

Fieldwork was stopped by rain on May 16 and has not been able to resume. Rainy and cool weather has predominated since. Corn planting in the area is stalled at an estimated 2/3 done,and soybeans about 1/3 done. We have been fortunate to miss the heavy rains in most areas,but numerous .25 to 1 inch rains keep the soil saturated. It will be at least June 1 before any fieldwork can start again in the area. Corn planting will likely go on for the 1 week of June, but after that point a decision will have to be made on switching to soybeans or using the prevent plant option of multi-peril crop insurance, as yield potential begins to drop off rapidly. The corn that was planted in early May has emerged well, and would look even better with some sun and heat. Corn and soybeans planted in mid-May are just starting to emerge.

The two weeks since the last report have had some of the most interesting grain price action in the last few years, with corn up over 60¢/bu and soybeans 80¢/bu higher. Just when big surplus and bad trade news had everyone thinking nothing good could happen, weather conditions took over. Very wet conditions over large parts of the cornbelt have led to the slowest planting
pace in modern history. Nationwide, 58% of the corn and 29% of the soybeans are planted vs 90% and 66% normally, and very little additional progress will be made the rest of the month. A lot of good weather will be needed in June to keep planted acreage and yield potential from dropping significantly from early season predictions, something the grain traders are finally taking into account.