Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Field work and planting activity has been halted by rain for nearly two weeks now. Rainfall amounts during that time range from 3 inches to 7 inches total (including the widespread heavy rain last night). Local rivers, streams, and low-lying areas are now flooded. Areas with heavy, fast rain had erosion damage on sloping farms where tillage was completed. The next two-week weather outlook shows planting windows should start to open next week with warmer temps and reduced rain chances. It will take multiple dry days before field conditions are fit for planting again. Farms with natural drainage or pattern drainage tile will be ready first, and other farms will take longer (a week or more) to dry.

The first planted corn in this area was around April 13th, which will be 4 weeks this Saturday. That corn is just emerging now (picture above). Cool soil temperatures slow down the process and adds risk for stand issues. It’s a little too early to evaluate stand quality, but it looks ok so far. However, there will be issues in areas with standing water or completely saturated soil. Corn seedlings can survive a few days in conditions like that, but the clock is ticking now. The wet spots will need to be evaluated as the fields dry out, and some areas will probably need to be replanted. The corn not planted yet maybe in the best position, but it needs to be planted by mid-May for 100% yield potential on average. Also, we don’t want to plant or do any tillage in overly wet soils because it leads to compaction, forms a hard crust around the seed affecting emergence, and can cause root issues potentially lasting the whole season.

Most soybeans are not planted yet, which is not unusual for early May. The small number of soybean acres planted in the first half of April have emerged or are emerging this week. Planting progress will happen very quickly when opportunity comes, so no reason to be worried about late planting yet. The yield potential of soybeans will start to decrease when the planting date is delayed into late May and early June.