Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

Southwest of Storm Lake

Counties of: Woodbury, Ida, Sac, Monona, Crawford, Harrison, Shelby

August 20, 2018

Past Weeks Rainfall: Plentiful

Soil Moisture: Full topsoil, subsoil more than adequate

Temperature: Highs in the 70’s to low 80’s, lows in the 50’s and low 60’s

Crop Progress: Corn ahead of normal, beans normal. Weather is beneficial for final stages of development.

Corn

Crop Stage: Ears are fully developed and kernels are beginning to dent. Milk line on the kernels is starting to drop. Some early hybrids which were planted early may reach maturity by early September, then it will be a matter of dry-down to harvest moisture. Some corn will be harvested by late September. Some fields have yellowed early. Some is due to early maturity, some is due to loss of nitrogen or shallow roots.

Yield Potential: Yield potential is excellent in many fields but with more variability showing up.

Soybean

Crop Stage: Height ranges around waist-high with good color, pod development and fill. We could say that the beans look more vigorous than the corn at this point.

Yield Potential: Trend-line or better at this time.

Corn Market

Current Prices: $3.24 /bu

Fall Prices: $3.28 /bu

Past Weeks Trend: Steady

Soybean Market

Current Prices: $8.03/bu

Fall Prices: $8.03/bu

Past Weeks Trend: Steady

Comments:

Dennis Reyman AFM, ARA

Weather conditions have been ideal for this part of our trade territory so far in August. Few days have reached “stress” levels for crops. We expect many fields will produce either record yields or close to it,while some fields will be average at best. Few fields should turn out to be below average. Rainfall on Sunday and Monday (19th & 20th) will be sufficient to finish out crops in this area.

Grain markets have basically trended sideways so far in August. Corn has mainly traded no more than 5 cents either side of $3.25. Beans spent a few days under $8.00 but have traded most days between $8.10 and $8.15 per bushel. Expect both crops to trade steady until more is learned about crop size. Of course, a big announcement on trade issues would move the market higher quickly. Pro Farmer’s 4-day, 6-state crop tour happens this week.

Crop Update Achives

Please click on the links on the right to view the past pdf’s of our Southwest Crop Conditions reports.