Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Harvest is approaching the home stretch in NW Iowa. Weather has been generally favorable for field work except for a few welcome rain delays. This area had 2 to 4 inches of rain over the past 30 days which is good to start rebuilding soil moisture for next year. Much of this area is still in a drought as classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor, but the overall drought picture has improved a lot over the past 3 months. The extended outlook calls for more above average temperatures and slightly better chances for rainfall. It looks like harvest should be all but finished by early November.

Soybean harvest is nearly finished around the area. Progress started a little earlier than usual in late September, but rainfall, humid air, fog, and morning dew slowed down soybeans harvest through the first half of October. The beans were slow to dry. Many farmers switched back and forth to corn so they could keep moving. Recently drying conditions improved and any remaining beans are ready to go. Yields have been impressive on soybeans. Most fields were able to get average yields or better. Some fields achieved all time high bean yields. Yields between 60 and 70 bushels per acre are common this year. The significant August rains made all the difference.

Corn harvest is about half done. Much of the corn has dried down in the field to under 18% moisture. I expect the remaining corn will be mostly finished over the next two weeks. Corn yields are more variable than soybeans this year. I think the July rainfall was the biggest factor. Farms that missed the July rain had below average yields. On the other hand, some farms are getting outstanding corn yields well above average. We are seeing a wide range of outcomes, but overall averages are running above expectations.