Northeast Iowa Crop Conditions

The crops in most areas look good at this time, but stress is showing on lighter soil areas in places where rainfall has been short. Over the last month rainfall has been lesser than normal, but some areas have done relatively well while others nearby have been short changed. Cool weather this week has been a real benefit as corn is in the middle to end of pollination. We are concerned with a hot and dry forecast for early August, as this may affect ear fill and kernel size if the plants are stressed. August weather is very important for soybeans as pods continue to set and fill, so weather stress will start to limit yield potential if it continues later in the month.

The grain markets dropped rapidly around the beginning of July as pressure was seen from generally good crop conditions and inflation and recession concerns and a strong dollar hurting demand. The market oversold and has moved back higher this week as the weather forecast for August is less than ideal. The map along with this update shows the shortfall in moisture over the last month in many areas.