Southeast Iowa Crop Conditions

Farmers were able to get in the fields toward the end of last week as the ground and soybeans both dried to
manageable levels. Most of the action in fields has been in soybeans so far. This week looks like mostly rainy
and cloudy days, making soybean harvest progress slow. Longer term looks like improvement with no frost threat
in the 15 day forecast.

Soybeans are mostly mature and ready to harvest although some later maturity fields are still too green/wet.
Luckily, we will not be receiving our killing frost by the average date; normally this week. Early yield reports are
“better than expected considering the growing season.” Better than expected, in this case, means about even
with the field’s 10-year average. Most farmers were expecting to be below the long-term average.

Corn is likely to benefit more from the delayed frost this year as the late planting this spring has delayed maturity
in some fields beyond the average frost date. Many fields have reached maturity but grain moisture is still around
30%. Desirable harvest moisture is 15-17% to keep drying costs within a reasonable range. The delayed
soybean harvest will provide time for the corn to naturally dry in the field.