Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

The major rivers in NW Iowa are going down this week, but they are still high. Our entire region has had
more than enough rain lately. Farms that are prone to flooding, have slow draining soils, or have
insufficient tile are generally in poor shape. On the other hand, farms that have good drainage and were
lucky enough to miss the heaviest rains & storms have mostly good to excellent crops.

Most corn is currently in the early stages of pollination, which is running about a week ahead of normal
schedule. This is among the most important phases of corn development. Lots of corn will be sprayed with
a fungicide in the next 10 days. The weather outlook for the next 8 to 14 days is cooler than average with
normal to below normal rainfall. If that trend continues through August, we could see very good corn yields
on some fields. The biggest issues that may hold back yields are nitrogen loss, plant diseases, poor root
system, saturated soil, and perhaps too much heat in August. This corn crop would benefit from normal to
cool temps and lots of sunshine to finish out the season.

Soybean conditions are even more dependent on drainage than corn. Fields with good natural drainage or
plenty of tile are mostly in good shape. There are lots of yellow areas in some fields as you drive around
the countryside, generally these are in the wetter areas. Those areas will have reduced yields, outside of
that the beans should have good potential.