Southeast Iowa Crop Conditions

We could really use some rain very soon! The sudden change from cold and wet to hot and dry has helped
farmers finish planting and replanting but we have now gone from wondering when it will stop raining to wondering
when it will rain again. Fields southeast of Storm Lake have gone over 2 weeks without any significant moisture
and temperatures are now above average with daytime highs going into the 90’s.

Corn is growing rapidly with the warmer weather but is now starting to show some signs of moisture stress. The
above average temps combined with windy conditions have taken most of the moisture out of the top 3-4 inches of
soil. There is plenty of moisture deeper in the soil profile but the corn roots are going to need to grow vertically to
reach it. Up until recently, corn roots have had more than adequate moisture within the top few inches of soil.
Post emerge herbicide applications will be finished up by the end of this week unless we are held up by rain.

Soybeans have all emerged but some fields planted just before the last significant rain had trouble breaking
through a surface crust, causing lower stand counts. Luckily soybeans are very good at compensating for lower
plant populations and still yielding about the same as a full stand.

Applications of post emergence herbicide on soybeans will be delayed as long as possible due to the small size of
the plants. The ideal situation is for the weeds to be small enough for the herbicide to be 100% effective when the
application occurs and the soybeans will shade the rows shortly afterward to help control any later germinating
weeds. We rarely get that ideal situation. Most herbicide applications will need to be made soon to keep weeds
from growing too large to be controlled. Fields will need to be watched closely this year to make sure there are
not any more flushes of weeds later in the summer needing attention.

Markets traded mostly higher last week as traders began putting some weather premium into the market. The
problem with weather markets is they can go down just as fast as they went up. June of 2016 was a very good
example of how quickly a weather market can end as 3 weeks of gain was lost in 5 days.