Jul 08, 2010
Heavy Rains in Central Corn Belt Take Toll on Corn and Soy Crops
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Over the weekend I traveled through Illinois, Iowa, southwestern Minnesota, eastern South Dakota, and eastern Nebraska. I am only going to comment on the crops I saw along my path which included: Chicago, Iowa City (IA), Waterloo (IA), Fort Dodge (IA), Spencer (IA), Redwood Falls (MN), Brookings (SD), Yankton (SD), Norfolk (NE), Columbus (NE), Omaha (NE), Red Oak (IA), Ottumwa (IA), Burlington (IA), Macomb (IL), Bloomington (IA), Chicago.
Big Picture Observations
- Too much rain is causing a lot of problems in Iowa, east-central Nebraska, and eastern South Dakota as well as in other locations.
- The corn crop varies from excellent to very poor depending on rainfall and soil drainage.
- Even though the corn crop has problems, it is still doing better than the soybean crop.
- The soybean crop varies from excellent to very poor with some soybean fields never planted.
- The eventual corn harvested area will be less than the June Planted Report due to drowned out spots.
- The eventual soybean harvested area will be less than the June Planted Report due to drowned out spots and some soybeans never being planted.
- Any stress on the corn is the result of too much water.
- Much of the corn crop will start pollinating this week and pollination will be successful.
- The best corn I saw was in Illinois and Minnesota where a lot of the corn looked really good.
- The worst corn I saw was in parts of Iowa, South Dakota, and Nebraska where some of the corn looked really bad - short, stunted, pale green, uneven in height.
- In areas where there has not been too much rainfall, the soybeans looked really good.
- In areas where there has been too much rainfall, the soybeans looked about as bad as I have seen for the first week of July - tiny (only a few inches tall), stunted, pale green and not growing.
- I could not say where the worst soybeans were found, there were regions of equally bad soybeans in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
- The earlier planted crops are doing the best.
- The later planted crops are doing the worst.
- There will not be record crops this year, not even close.
- Continued rainfall in the wet areas could be a disaster, especially for soybeans.
- In the wet areas, the corn crop is poor and the soybeans are in real trouble.
- Yield estimates for both corn and soybeans probably have peaked and will decline.
Iowa
The crops is Iowa are a real mixed bag. In some locations where there has not been too much rain or the soils are well drained, the crops look really good. In other areas where there has been too much rain or the soils are not well drained, the crops look really bad. In the good areas, the most advanced corn will shoot tassels this week and pollination will be successful. The corn crop is going to have plenty of soil moisture to insure very good yields. The soybeans in these good areas also look really good and yields should be high if the August weather cooperates.
In the waterlogged regions of the state, the situation is very different. In many corn fields the height of the corn varies from a normal height with the crop ready to shoot the tassel to corn that is still only two feet tall, yellow, stunted, with a very low yield potential. Many corn fields look like a roller coaster with the up and down height of the corn. Within the same field there can be very good corn and very bad corn. The heavy rains have leached out much of the nitrogen resulting in pale green or yellowish corn. This lack of nitrogen was also evident in corn fields that generally looked very good. In some of the fields there were greenish-yellow streaks running through an otherwise good looking field of corn.
- The Iowa corn crop is doing better than the Iowa soybean crop.
- The worst crops were found in southeastern Iowa and in northwestern Iowa.
- Too much water has caused the corn to be very uneven, from normal height to corn that is still only two feet tall.
- Some of the corn is yellow, stunted, and will have a very low yield potential.
- In the wettest areas, many of the soybeans are tiny, only a few inches tall, and some of the soybeans were never even planted. In these wet areas the soybeans where short, stunted, pale green, with a very low yield potential.
- Water is still standing in many places and continued rainfall could turn a bad situation into a disaster.
Illinois
Some of the best crops I saw on this trip were in Illinois. Most of the corn I saw in Illinois was tall, uniform, very dark green, ready to shoot tassels, and has a very high yield potential. In the wetter areas of Illinois, which was in the western part of the state, the corn was more uneven, yellowish green, probably two weeks away from shooting tassels, and with an average yield potential at best. Generally, I would say the corn crop in Illinois is doing better than the soybean crop.
In the better areas, the soybeans looked really good, but in the wetter areas, the soybeans were short, stunted, pale green and there were drowned out spots as well.
Nebraska
In Nebraska, as in the other states, most of the crops look good, but there are areas where the crops look really bad.
In central Nebraska there was still standing water in many places and they received more rainfall after I left there. As an illustration of just how wet it is in Nebraska, out of hundreds of center pivot irrigation systems I saw, only a handful were actually operating and that is very unusual for July. In the wettest areas, many of the corn fields looked terrible with short and stunted corn that was yellowish green in color and very uneven in height. The soybeans in these wet areas were only a few inches tall, stunted, pale green and not growing.
Minnesota
Minnesota farmers had some of the best crops I saw on the entire trip. Much of the corn in Minnesota is tall, uniform, dark green and will be shooting tassels next week or the week after. This is very early for corn in Minnesota and if the weather cooperates during the remainder of the summer, the corn yields in the state should be very good. The vast majority of the soybeans in the state were doing very well, but I do not feel the soybeans are doing as well as the corn. The soybeans were developing at about an average pace, whereas the corn is ahead of its normal development.
South Dakota
In eastern South Dakota there is some very good looking corn and some very bad looking corn. It all depends on the rainfall and the drainage. The best corn will be shooting tassels this week and next week. In the wettest areas, some of the corn has been drowned out and what has not been drowned out is short, stunted, uneven, and lacking nitrogen.
In the wetter areas, the soybeans are very tiny, only a few inches tall, stunted, slow growing with many drowned out spots. I saw a number of fields in South Dakota where the soybeans were never even planted. Of all the places I traveled, South Dakota was the only place that I saw a farmer in the field actually trying to plant his remaining soybeans. The field he was in was too wet for planting, but he must have been desperate to get something in the ground.
Summary
The crops in the central and western Corn Belt are a tale of two different worlds. Where there has not been too much rainfall, the crops look excellent and the yields should be excellent as well. Where there has been too much rainfall or the drainage is poor, the crops look really bad and continued rain in these areas could lead to a disaster. Generally, the damage was worst than was expected and over a wider range than was expected.
The harvested acreage for both corn and soybeans will need to be lowered due to the heavy rains which drowned out some of the crops and prevented the farmers from planting all their intended soybean acreage.