Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

This week will be the driest we’ve had for over a month, which is very much needed. Some areas have received
over 6 inches of rain in the past 30 days. Temperatures are still cool for this time of year. This has turned into a
very challenging planting season.

Corn emergence is slow and inconsistent, especially in areas with long term saturated soils or hard packed soil.Cold, wet, and compacted soils are a bad combination. There are also areas with good drainage or less rain that are in fairly good shape. The early planted corn has been in the ground for a month now, and some of it has still not emerged. Some fields or parts of fields will need to be replanted. If the corn stand is reduced but some what uniform many will live with the stand instead of replanting. Corn planted in the last half of May is expected to yield 15% to 25% less on average, but every year is different. Some tough decisions to make in the next two weeks.

Soybean planting is accelerating where the ground is dry enough. Soybeans are even less suited than corn for
cool wet soil, so we are not off to the best start on them either.