Northwest Iowa Crop Conditions

This is my last crop progress report of the season. Harvest is nearly complete in NW Iowa. Dry weather persisted this fall with basically no harvest delays from rain. The dry conditions helped keep harvest moving, but we are concerned about soil moisture for next season. We’ll need a period of above average rainfall between now and next June. After three years of drought water levels in creeks, ponds, lakes, and wells are amazingly low right now. However, despite the drought, most areas still had just enough small rain events to make a reasonable crop each of the past three seasons but not nearly enough to replenish the water table.

Corn harvest went smoothly in this area with fairly dry corn and good weather. We didn’t have many problems with down corn like we feared earlier this fall. Yields were highly variable depending on rainfall, soil quality, fertility, and other factors. Overall, most yields were respectable considering the dry summer. However, areas in Western Plymouth, Southwest Cherokee, Southwest Sioux, and Northwest Woodbury had some of the worst corn yields since 2012. On the other side of the spectrum, some farms managed to get very good yields, so it’s hard to generalize this year.

The grain markets have bounced around through harvest, but prices remain historically strong. Tight supplies globally should support the market at least into this spring. A strong dollar, economic uncertainty, South America weather, the War in the Ukraine, and ethanol demand are a few things to keep an eye on.

I will start sending these reports again next spring. We wish you a safe and happy holiday season!