Southeast Iowa Crop Conditions

The beginning of July brought good showers to most areas SE of Storm Lake. Prior to those rains, most corn fields were showing drought stress and soybeans were mostly stagnate in growth. Since that time, both crops have advanced greatly. Many corn fields SE of Storm Lake began tasseling the second or third week of July. Fortunately, during that time, daytime temperatures were cooler which created favorable conditions for corn pollination. All corn fields that I been in have pollinated well. Kernel counts in most cases have met or exceeded my expectations. Over the last week, the conditions have been hot with daytime temperatures reaching the upper 80s to lower 90s with high humidity.

Airplanes have been common sight and sound above fields SE of Storm Lake. Many producers are applying fungicides to maximize the yield potential of this year’s corn crop. I expect the airplanes to continue zooming through the air for the upcoming weeks as they begin applying fungicide treatments to soybean fields.

Both crops will require one or two good rains in the month of August to finish off in their current condition. There is a decent chance of rain heading into the weekend of July 31st. If rain is missed during that event the weather outlook over the next 14 days do not look promising. The National Weather Service (NOAA) is calling for mostly normal to above normal temperatures and precipitation at mostly below normal. Pictured below is the 6 to 10 Day weather outlook. Temperatures are shown to the left and precipitation is shown to the right.