Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Dry and cool to cold, has changed to snow and cold! How’s that for mid-April? At least it’s moisture, and the old saying is that “rain on Easter, rain for 7 more Sundays”. I assume snow and rain are interchangeable on this! This coming week has chances of rain several days, including 80% on Wednesday.

Grain markets continues to trend higher. Lack of planting progress across the US is becoming a bullish factor. Soil temps at 50 degrees are on the line running across southern Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee, so most of the Corn Belt needs considerable warm-up before planting.

Look at the October 2023 bid at $6.21 with beans at $13.20. That’s quite a bid for 18 months out. Is it worth taking? Is it worth passing up?

Land sales continue to set new hights. Last week, a historic land auction occurred when a large estate sold nearly $20 million worth of farmland, mostly in Buena Vista but also Clay and Pocahontas Counties. Top Price paid was $20,100 per acre for 240 acres. While that’s not a record high for northwest Iowa, it does bring $20,000 per acre into a new neighborhood. Investors continues to be a strong factor pushing land values higher. Will higher interest rates affect farmlang? At some point, yes, but we can’t say it has had an impact yet.

Folks ask, “where will it all end?”. It never ends, it just changes. The question is, how will it change?