Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Crops in Northwest Iowa continue to look good. Corn is especially looking good as it nears pollination. The corn is
in a vulnerable stage to wind and hail damage, just prior to tasseling. We are crossing our fingers hoping to miss
any severe weather. Some areas in NW Iowa are on the threshold of being too dry. Our corn hasn’t been stressed
yet, but prolonged warm dry weather could still be damaging to corn. This is especially true for corn with shallow
root systems which can develop from wet conditions in the spring. If we can catch a nice rain or two and
have moderate temps in July, we should have an excellent corn crop this fall.

Soybeans are looking better every day. They are somewhat small for this time of year. They are benefiting from
the dryer weather recently and are starting to grow more rapidly. We have potential for a good soybean crop, but
weather conditions in July and August will be the biggest factor to determine yields.

The grain markets continued to rally last week from the bullish June 30th USDA report and wet weather concerns
in the southern and eastern Midwest. This week is starting out lower, so we’ll see if the uptrend can continue into
July.