Hannibal to Hillsboro

Hannibal to Hillsboro

Crop Condition Rainfall

We made our return trip yesterday.  Crops on the Illinois leg looked better than Iowa for the most part.  I know that not too far from I 72 conditions are dryer.  The map below is the past 14 days rainfall.  Illinois is in the center.  The blue areas have had less than a half inch.  Some of the blue area are really dry.

Southeast Iowa Crops

Southeast Iowa Crops

Corn Condition Crop Condition Soybean Condition

We drove across Southeast Iowa this morning.  Irrigation rigs are running in the river bottoms.  Corn is dark green, but most is not yet tasseling.  Some fields had leaf rolling, but none of the corn looked to be beyond the help of a timely rain.  Soybeans are looking good too.  Judging from brown lawns, I would say rain would very welcome.

Corn Pollination

Corn Pollination

Corn Condition Crop Condition

Early planted fields are starting to pollinate.  It may be 2 weeks before this field is done pollinating because of unevenness of the stand.  This can't lead to top yields.

Comments on Weather and Crop Report

Comments on Weather and Crop Report

Crop Condition

While I have not been everywhere, I have traveled hundreds of miles in the past week in Illinois, Iowa and a small part of Missouri.  The Illinois weather and crop report is consistent with what I have seen.  59 % of Corn is listed as good to excellent.  May be a a bit generous, but it is close.  67 % of soybeans are good to excellent.  I am not sure it should be that high, but soybeans are better than corn.  19% are still reporting short on moisture.  That seems about right.

Past 7 Days Rainfall

Past 7 Days Rainfall

corn Crop Condition weather

We have just had several days of wet weather.  You could get the idea that the effects of dry weather have been averted.  If you study the map, You will find that there are many areas that had only a half inch, especially to the west. On the plus side, many parts of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana had good rain.  Some of the early planted corn is good till silking time, which is coming in two weeks.  Later planted corn was helped as far as getting roots to grow deeper, but probably more than half of the corn I have seen will need more rain to assure a decent crop.  I have not seen anything that leads me to believe that corn yields will be above trend line.  Early planted soybeans are looking good, but later planted soybeans have population issues.

Road Trip North and West

Road Trip North and West

Crop Condition weather

Weekend travels took us to Pella, Iowa for a family visit.  Some corn in Pike Co is in the V-8 to V-10 stage. On Friday, some corn in Pike County was starting to roll because of low humidity and high winds.  On the return trip, corn on the sandy soils had turned white.

Irrigation rigs were running in the Mississippi River bottoms as we traveled north. There were still a few planters in the field Friday.  Most of the soybeans in Iowa were V-1 to V-3.  It was interesting that almost no beans in Iowa were planted in 30 inch rows.

High winds, low humidity and high temperatures continued for our entire visit.  Corn in Iowa was V-3 to V-6 stage, so fortunately water requirements were lower than for some of the Illinois Corn.  In Iowa, people were already talking drought, although crops looked OK even as we traveled home Sunday.  To give and idea of the conditions though, I will comment that upper leaves on trees were wilted because they could not take up water fast enough.

Without regard to dry conditions, crops generally looked better in Iowa than they do in Illinois because soils were dryer for planting in Iowa.    

Rain in the forecast on Wednesday could help to rescue the corn from significant damage.

Crop Condition Today

Crop Condition Today

corn Crop Condition Soybeans

In general crop condition this spring has been fair at best.  Today as we were getting caught up on soil sampling, we were still seeing fields that are too wet to plant.  Corn was still being replanted.  Patching in will probably continue for  2 weeks.  12 acres of corn planted in Mid-March was the best looking corn we have seen.  I am not advocating for planting that early because the risk is huge.  About half the corn is starting to get some dark color.  It is also getting tall enough that you can't see the areas that have poor stands for the most part.  Smaller corn has decent stands, but we are still seeing nitrogen and sulfur deficiency symptoms, probably somewhat as a result of weather. My overall rating of corn condition is just average.

Weather is improving for now.  Next week we will start hearing from some people that a rain would be nice.  The first rain in the forecast is June 17.

Soybeans are looking a little better than corn.  Stands are more even and some early planted beans are at V2 or V3 stage.  later planted soybeans are germinating and emerging fast.  My overall rating of soybeans is slightly above average.

Weed control is an issue in some places.  I have heard of disappointing results with Dicamba and I have seen disappointing results with Liberty.