Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

On my June 28th update we were getting desperate for rainfall. Fortunately, the rains came just in time in early July. This region received between 1.5” and 3.5” of rain so far this month. Some high wind came along with the rain, but crop damage was limited to fairly small areas. Most of the corn with wind damage was able to recover. Just like last year, our weather improved in July just when we needed it. However, this crop still has a long way to go. The extended forecast does not look good with increased odds for hot, dry weather through at least the end of July. We will need rainfall and cooler temperatures in August to maintain favorable crop conditions.

Corn in this area will start the important pollination process in the next week or so which is a little behind recent years. The recent rainfall was very beneficial to the corn. Most fields look really good currently. Some of the driest areas especially in Plymouth and Cherokee Counties may have lost some of the “top end” yield already from drought conditions but overall, I see very good potential this year.

Soybeans seem small for this time of year, but they will continue to grow for another month. The most important stage of soybeans is in August when they are setting pods. Favorable weather in August will add significant yield.

Grain markets are under pressure lately even though the fundamentals really haven’t changed. The speculative investment money has been selling commodities over the past few weeks which started a downward trend. If drought conditions worsen later this month, we may see prices recover.