Southwest Iowa Crop Conditions

October turned out to be one of the wettest Octobers in Iowa history, although it did not seem that way in this territory. While rains were persistent enough to slow harvest during the month, we never received overwhelming rains that turned fields into muddy situations. A few remaining bean fields refuse to dry enough for harvest; that is, the beans themselves remain at excessive moisture levels. For the most part, corn moisture has been very nicely in the 14-17% range but with a few fields remaining at 19%.

Both corn and beans have enjoyed fantastic results, for the most part, gaining more from heavy dews and late August rainfall than we’ve ever seen. Many we work with have posted their best yields ever.

Corn and bean prices jumped today after USDA’s monthly production report released at 11:00. Bean yields were lowered by a bit after the trade had expected a slight increase. Corn yield increased slightly. Demand is strong. Corn jumped 15 cents at the news and beans more than 40 cents. They’ve since settled back and are trading at +5c and +21c an hour after the report. We shall see if an uptrend can take hold now.

Land values continue to work higher with a huge amount of volume on the market. Top-end results from a few months ago are considered “soft” today. Is this good? Good for today’s sellers, although dreamers never get their price. Good for today’s buyers who have considerable financial strength. For first-time buyers, tread cautiously.