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• 10/25 - Southeast Minnesota, Fillmore County: Finally got all of the corn and beans out. Surprisingly after a lot of rain the last few weeks and a week without being able to do anything, we were able to get back out there and finish up. The corn ground dried up pretty fast. It was still soft but we were able to get threw it without leaving much for tracks. After we got the corn done we stuck the bean head back on and went back to finish up the beans. I was able to get them all out but left some pretty good tracks in the field doing so. In this area it looks like about 70% of the corn is done and about 90% percent of the beans are done. We were able to get out and start the tillage last Sunday. We are able to get threw everything so far and it is doing a pretty good job. The way this fall started, I did not think we would be getting any tillage done this fall.

• 10/25 - Southeast North Dakota: 10 days of rain and mist followed by a couple days of strong winds really cut the yields on the beans here. 40 bushel beans are now 25. Very difficult to stomach. Corn is about what we expected, 150 to 175 bu/acre. Moisture levels from 17-23%.

• 10/25 - Central Michigan: The rain missed us for 80 days this summer from June 1 to mid August. We had 3 inches at tenths at a time. Our normal is about 7-9 inches in that time spanned. Soybeans harvest is complete. Yield is about 30 bpa. Last year we had 60. One field of corn 115 bpa another on sandy soil 98. Not your banner year like last year. Short on the bean contract. Had to buy beans at 9 to pay for 7. Not the best marketing plan. Oh well maybe next year will be better.

• 10/25 - Central Kentucky: It has rained 5+ inches in Central Kentucky since Monday at 2 pm. This one rain event equals the total since April 1st. Hay crop at 30%; (two cuttings of alfalfa compared to 4 or 5 normally), corn yields at 55 to 80 bu/ac compared to 150 in '04, best soybean yield was 27 bu/ac and heading down toward 10 bu/ac on mid June plantings if there's anything left after they dry out. Drought stressed beans were popping out this past weekend before the rains came. Second year in a row that no-till has not worked due to low rain fall, rains that ave. 2tenths inch. Tilled ground responded better to limited rainfall than no-till. Crop insurance will pay off this year. 90% of the ponds and springs have dried up, with little refilling from the rains this week. Large culling of cows and early weaning of calves in cattle herds in the area, with more cows to be sold as hay runs out. I have be feeding hay since August. Chopped and bagged part of the corn crop just to try to get the cattle herd through the winter. Hope next year is better.

• 10/24 - Morrison County, Minnesota: Finally back in the fields getting some soybeans off after 3 inches of rain last week. Tuesday's strong winds really dried them out. Still have to go around some wet spots but I think by the weekend should get those areas off too. Going to start on corn on Saturday. Checked one field where I had GCS 89-02R hybrid, and the moisture is 13% with a test weight of 59 lbs/bushel. Yields should go 120, which is good considering how dry it was this summer.
  

• 10/24 - Northeast Nebraska: Started back on beans and just wanted to be sick what saw in the fields.. 15 to 20 bushel on the ground. All popped open from last weeks 7 in of rain. What looked like a good bean crop turned into a mess. Making just what my crop insurance is covered for.

• 10/23 - North Central Wisconsin: I took one field of beans off Oct. 13, running 40 bu. per acre. Since then it has rained every day except 1. Fields are saturated, just walking in them leaves 2 inch deep tracks. Corn here was very good for the amount of moisture we had during our growing season, 110 bu range.

• 10/22 - Southwest Ohio: Finally some rain, might break 8 inch total since April 1. Some corn still out and some beans but I am guessing 2/3 done. Wheat planted and out of the ground for the most part, most in years. Seed supply about zero. Very interesting year, don't see how you could apply it to another since our management practices have changed so much.

• 10/22 - South Central Kansas: I started planting the regular wheat on October 11. We had just enough moisture to get it up (I think). It started raining on October 14th. It was unusually hot and dry until the 14th. Now with the rain and cool temperatures, we have a large flush of volunteer wheat with some being at a huge population due to the uncut wheat this year. Half of the people in our area have not planted any wheat and it rained again last night. I'm a bit more aggressive than the neighbors and have about 1/5 of my acres yet to plant. Then we will look at the replant issue. Problem will be no seed left to plant. This is not a good start on the 2008 crop.

• 10/20 - Northern Iowa: Trying to dry out after 2.9 inches of rain for the the last 7 days. This on top of soils that were hit with 5 inches 10 days prior. Only seen one combine run this week and that was a neighbor that bought tracks for the combine and was going through standing water yesterday and today. Everyone else is sitting on the sidelines waiting. Probably 60% of corn crop remains in field. Doubtful that anyone on wheels will dare to try anything until late this week. Better stock up on log chain and patience. It could always be worse...that's what my dad keeps saying anyway.

• 10/19 - Franklin Co., Tenn.: This is the 2nd dry year in a row. Rain fall for the year is 20 inches below normal. Our corn made 100 bu. , I don;t know how. Beans are making 15-30 bu. No grass & hay supplies are very short. I've never seen so many corn stalks baled. It's so dry, we cant start planting wheat. Maybe it will rain soon.
  
  
• 10/19 - North central Iowa: Corn yields where down 20 bu. per acre--166 per acre at 16% and 53 pounds per bu. The corn heads are shelling bad due to big and very small second ears on the plant. It must have died early in late July and August. Lots of green fields after the combine.
  
  
• 10/19 - Southeast North Dakota: Today is the first sunshine we've seen in days. It's going to be very difficult to harvest the remaining soybeans and sugarbeets without rutting up fields terribly. Lots of beans on the ground in the first field I checked. The next field was better, less loss, different variety. Lots of field work needs to get done. Corn harvest is 40% done here. Some are just starting others 80% complete. I've just started. Corn is 23-25% moisture. Big winds last night caused some lodging and ear drop. So far 2007 has been anything but easy.

• 10/18 -Northeast Nebraska: Add another 2.5 in rain last nite...looked at the beans imm sure there will be anywhere from 25 to more then 75% popped open. Hope crop insurance covers this. Was getting 50 bu. beans - hope they are 25 bu. now.

• 10/18 - Northeast North Dakota: It's been exactly two weeks since we last combined anything. Rain total is less than 2 inches, but every day has been drizzle and foggy. We have 170 acres of edible beans left, and have not started on the sunflowers. The bean yields have been in the 24 cwt. range, which is very good for this area. Started putting down some fert. yesterday, but light rain all day today stopped that operation. In this part of the world, winter can come any time after Nov. 1, and stay till April. We are hoping for a long stretch of nice weather.

• 10/18 - Lincoln Nebraska: Corn and bean harvest 40-60% done in this area I would guess. Corn yields a little below average 125 give or take 10 either way. Very wet October, 4th wettest in last 30 years so far. We have not turned a wheel since last Friday and Saturday we will try to mud out some corn. Elevators are full or close to it. ADM processor in Lincoln not taking beans this week they are picking up beans they put on the ground that have received over 5.00 inches of rain on them. We planted our winter wheat in the mud but looks ok since the continued wet weather bailed us out. Probably more beans left then corn in this area.

• 10/18 - Southwest Illinois, St. Clair County: Harvest has come to a stop here after 2+ inches of rain has fallen over much of the county. Corn harvest is for the most part completed. You have to drive a long way to see much standing. I would say you could divide the county into thirds. The north 1/3 had good yields in the 150-200 bushel range, the middle 1/3 had yields in the 110-160 range and the lower 1/3 had yields in the 90-130 bushel range. I would estimate our county average will fall in the 130 bushel area. First crop bean harvest is probably 90% complete as well. Yields, like corn, were all over the board. I heard of some 20 bushel beans in the far south , but I think many had 30 or better and the folks in the north half had beans mostly from 40 to the low 50’s. I think our county average on 1st crop beans would be near 40, but since they include double crops I imagine it will be less. Double crops have seen little harvest activity. Some that have harvested them are talking yields in the 10-25 bushel range, depending on rainfall. Lot’s of wheat has been planted. Dry fertilizer for fall applied for corn/beans has been restricted while most suppliers take care of wheat production first. I would estimate that the southern 2/3 of the county has seen wheat plantings near 40% and after driving through parts of Clinton/Washington counties I would estimate that they have planted that much or more. If we see bean prices of $10 and corn under $4 we will see lots of wheat and beans planted next year, especially in the areas that have not as productive soil types.
  

• 10/18 - Southwest Kansas: We are done harvesting a very large crop. Yields are very strong.... the heat in August hurt us from record yields, but we are still looking at a 220 bpa ave. Wheat is going into the ground at a rapid pace, but mostly for insurance as there is no moisture to hit. Lots of fields are trying to blow.

• 10/18 - East Central Kansas, Lyon County: Area received another 2.5 inches rain, giving us 5 inches in the last week, and over 7.5 for the month. Received only eight inches all summer (most in two rains a 5.50 and 2.40 inch rains) after a wet spring. Beans are making 16 bu. and starting to pop out. 60% finished. Corn is starting to go down and if this wet weather continues flooding and sprouting on the ear will decimate yields further. Potential after a hard 5.5 inch rain first of July was 175 bu. acre, but just 2.40 in rain the rest of July, and August before harvest hurt yields. Yields around here are 50-120 bushel with an average of about 90. Ten year average is 86 bu. per acre. Typical with this area lots of potential early less potential as year proceeds. Fell blessed if you got your above average yield. We are still waiting. Fifteen years ago when we got it we sold the crop for $1.60 bushel.
  

• 10/18 - Southeast Indiana, Fayette County: We were dry all year. Our wheat and straw was bad, hay and pasture was dead, and now we have corn as low as 44 bu./acre and beans 16 bu/ac. Be glad when this year is over.

• 10/18 - Southwestern Wisconsin: Corn and soybeans are yielding very well. Biggest problem is that corn is going down and low lying fields have standing water. Have a safe harvest.

• 10/18 - South Central Minnesota: More rain that we don't need. There is no where for this water to go. Ears are sprouting on the stalk. We are in a situation that will take weeks and not days to correct. Harvest will carry on into winter and I doubt any tillage will get done.

• 10/17 - Northeast Nebraska, Wayne County: What a mess over 5 in rain in last 4 days..water running out of the hills I've never seen in 40 yrs...over 10 in total in last 2 weeks.. Seed dealer said today that beans are popping out from 10 to 20% are on the ground already..bean crop getting shorter every day..only half of beans are combined...corn looks bad also.have never seen it this black looking this early...hope the wind dont blow it down..only 30 to 40 % done...looks like a long harvest

• 10/17 - Northern Illinois, Stephenson County: Haven't been in the field since Sat. Our Beans are in ,but there are some others with large acreage still at it. 40-60bpa. The corn is down in places and stalk quality is bad along with root structure. Doesn't make a diff whether triple stack or not. Some places didn't get the timely rains. Some of our farms are better yielding than the others. Suppose to get rain and wind tonight and thats not good for the corn thats already down. We're not quite half done. Moisture has been running 13-14%. Makes one wonder if one should have put more into beans.

• 10/17 - Northern Iowa, Mitchell County: Very wet here, beans are 95% done corn maybe 30%. More rain the next two day, most beans went low 50's to mid 60'. Corn anywhere from 150 bu. to 200 plus. Had good rain's most of the summer.

• 10/17 - South Central Minnesota: It is a muddy mess here! High ground or sandy soils will not be in the field month with some drying conditions have taken some corn but it is touch and go. Will not try to much more till it freezes up or firms up. We have had about 25" of rain since 3rd week August, there is water standing where it never had. There is a really good crop of corn and no way to get it out. Many farmers have tried picking corn lots issues in breaking axles from pulling the out of the mud. Good luck this fall I think we are going to need it.

• 10/17 - West Central Illinois, Knox County: Harvested 200 bpa corn last weekend at 18.2% moisture. We got the needed rainfalls over the summer, though it is pretty dry. We narrowly missed the severe winds that knocked down many other corn fields mid-summer. Now those fields are like a green lawn with germinating corn. Thank God for our blessings.

• 10/17 - Northeast Nebraska, Dixon County: We are one big slop hole here. We haven't seen the sun in 5 days and it continues to rain off and on... 9.5 inches since sept 30, and sounds like the probability of another 1-2 today and tomorrow. Soybean yields have been pretty good up to this point, but now with all the rain, the beans that remain to be harvested are swelling to the point that they are splitting pods... too early to tell how much this will effect the yield, but it certainly doesn't look good. There are still a lot of acres of beans in the fields around here and very little corn out. My new goal... be done with harvest by Christmas?!

• 10/17 - Central North Carolina: Averaged 6.6 BPA on my soybeans this year. My best field ran almost 8 BPA. Usually, I can average 35 - 45 easily. Have gone as high as 65 BPA on one field several years ago. Of course, you know the reason. We are way behind on rainfall. Had only one month (May) in the last six with rainfall as much as 1.0" total for the month.

• 10/17 - South Central Iowa: Things are a mess around here. We just can't get the rain to stop. We have half of our corn left standing and half of our beans left in the field. I would say the corn will be ok...but the beans were ready 2 weeks ago but we just couldn't cut through the green stems and leaves that just wouldn't go away! The big concern is that we are supposed to get severe storms tonight and tomorrow...that would destroy what we have left in the fields! We had 1.2" on Saturday and Sunday....now they are saying we could have another 2" or more starting tonight on into Friday morning. We may not get back into the field for more than a week...and it is a real possibility that we won't get done until around Thanksgiving the way things are going.

• 10/17 - South Central Minnesota: Everything stopped here again. Rain rain and more rain with more forecast tonight and tomorrow. Fields are tracked and ponded, very little tillage or fertilizer. I think we can forget about no till beans next year, too many ruts. Beans are mostly out and corn is maybe 35-40%. The corn stalks are really getting bad, one night of strong wind would really do a lot of damage.

• 10/16 - East Central Missouri, Montgomery Country: Finished corn and beans, corn avg. 77.6 bu. with low test weight. Beans avg. 24.1 bu. , this is two dry years out of the last three. This is starting to get a little old, when you hear what everyone else is harvesting. But I guess we will do it all over again next year!

• 10/16 - Southwest Illinois, Washington County: We finished soybean harvest Thursday October 11. Earliest finish ever and worst yields ever, 23.2 bu/ac. This was worse than 2002 and any of the bad years in the 80s. Our normal average is a little over 40. Our corn harvest also was completed the earliest ever on September 18, with yields just under 100 vs. average around 130. We were just too dry and hot all summer to grow any more. Lots of wheat going in the dust around here. We had a half inch last night, our first rain in 6 weeks, so maybe the wheat will all sprout now. Before the rain we had dust devils (whirlwinds) of biblical proportions reaching all the way to the clouds. In spite of this years disappointing yields I still say God is Good.

• 10/16 - Southern Minnesota: Rain still makes Grain. Local Coop had 15 replicated plots with 18 hybrids. Low plot average of 137 bushels per acre at Pipestone. Hi plot average of 249.6 at Wells. All yields were much better than expected. 15 plots with 10 hybrids averaged over 196 bushels per acre!

• 10/15 - Lafayette County, Wisconsin: Corn is yielding between 160 and 230. A lot of variation. The early day corn is down and yielding low and the longer day is standing well as well as yielding well. Soybeans will average 52, 9 lower then last year, and the corn will average 190-195, same as last year….Safe harvest

• 10/15 - Giles County, Tennessee: I saw a D+PL( Monsanto) test plot sheet on one of the best farms in North AL. The average yield was about 400lbs. This farm will normally make 1000 lbs. if you plant it. We are about to start picking ours hoping for 800 will probably make 600. Our early beans averaged 35 bu. Our corn averaged 140. Cows were being sold due to grass now being sold due to water.Generations of families have never seen it this dry.

• 10/15 - Northwest Iowa: Had a severe drought this summer in northwest Iowa with a total of 5.5" of rain for the months of May, June, and July. (Southwest Minnesota had pretty much the same weather pattern as northwest Iowa). The corn is averaging about 150 b/p/a depending on how sandy the soil was; and if you were lucky enough to catch a shower in time. The normal average for BT corn in this area on a good year is 190 b/p/a. This is the first year for the triple stack corn around here. (I would hate to think what the yield would have been 50 years ago before hybrid seedcorn). The rains finally came in August and we had over 7 inches in August and another 7 inches in September. So much for the drought for this year! The rain made the beans and they are yielding between 45 and 60 b/p/a depending on how dry the area was, you were located in. Most beans are averaging 60 b/p/a in our area. Bean combining is about done around here, and corn combining has started. We are on hold right now because of rain. There are even some flood warnings out, and rain is predicted for the rest of the week.

• 10/15 - Western Nebraska: Corn yields in Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming appear to be down 20-25 % (30-40 bu/acre) from last year. A late freeze in mid June and many insect problems that are not a common thing for this area took a big toll on this crop.
  

• 10/15 - South Central Iowa, Warren County: Friday evening I finished combining my first and largest and historically best field of beans. Put me down as 40% done with my beans. Initial figuring of the yield at over 57 BPA. New FSA photos changed the acres so it will go up when I use this year's smaller number of acres for the field. 35 - 40 is normal and prior record is just over 50. And I've never had this kind of a yield and a good price at the same time. Isn't God good?

  Friday night we received .3" of rain on saturated ground so no more combining. By noon Sunday we'd received a total of 2.1" with more predicted for the next few days. I doubt if I can get back into the fields for 10 days. I've heard reports of 4.5" to 5.5" of rain over the weekend in Warren county, so I'm feeling blessed to have only received 2.1".

  I understand that North and South Carolina and Virginia are in desperate need of rain. I'd be glad to share what I'm getting with them, and we'd both come out ahead.
  

• 10/15 - Northeast Missouri: Finished harvest Saturday. Corn average. 1900 acres. Over scales 120 bu dry. Soybean average. 1600 acres. Over scales 46 bu. Corn was about what we expected. Beans were a pleasant surprise. Corn about 66% of potential average. Beans about 90 % of potential average.

• 10/15 - Southwest Ohio, Montgomery County: Reports gleaned from three area farmers are disappointing. Corn averaging under 120bpa with range of 70-170bpa depending where the July showers hit (if you could call them showers). This is 30 to 40 bpa below average. Beans benefited from an August rain pushing them to an average of 32 bpa, we're lucky we're that high. Beans usually run 45-50 bpa around here. Our fields are still waiting for the custom guy which has turned out to be a good thing with all the green bean stalks in the area. Hope the predicted rains the rest of this week don't have any wind, but it is so dry we welcome the rain even though its harvest time.

• 10/15 - East Central Missouri: Corn yields are coming in 60 - 120 bu. per average, Beans 25 bu. per bu. average, very dry all year and even now. Wheat sowing exploding. Local COOP has sold 3 times the norm of wheat seed and searching for more seed to sell.

• 10/14 - Northwest Iowa:.Soybeans yields here for the most part have been about 10 bushels an acre below our three year average. A hail storm went through this area a couple of weeks ago and severely damaged standing soybeans over a large area. Soybeans that went through this hail are averaging 10 to 15 bushels an acre and reports of some fields not even worth combining. We took out our first field of corn and what we thought would be our best corn turned out to be about 40 bushels an acre below our three average. Neighbors have been telling me their corn varies from zero to 180 on combine yield monitors. The long period of no rain this past summer was just too much for crops to overcome.

• 10/12 - Southwest Minnesota: We will finish corn today. Yields were lower than last year by about 30 bushels. However, the soybean yields were just as good as last year, thanks to 3 inches of rain in August. We had about 4 inches total rain this summer, and now received a little over 6 inches in the past few weeks. I sure am thankful for all the tile we have in the ground.

• 10/11 - Southeast North Dakota: Finished soybeans today. Average yield of 34 on 600 acres. Should have been better with no stress to speak of during the growing season. Some drownout spots may have been the culpret. Corn looks excellent and drying down fast.

• 10/11 - Southern Minnesota: With the heavy rains of 5-7" one week ago, it was evident that just having a lot of crop residue on the surface did not stop soil erosion. It apparently needs to be "anchored" down with practices like no-till or strip-till. There, the previous years corn stalks and soybean stubble still had roots in the ground and held the soil in place. The fall worked and spring worked soils really moved. Still, having loose crop residue to break the rainfall was better than the real black soil. The no-till and strip-tilled fields also had the least ponded water, were firmer, and allowed the combines back in the field quicker.
  

• 10/11 - North Central Iowa: Corn yields while good are running 10-12% less than a year ago. Same fields, continuous corn. Generally the test weight also appears to be 3-5 lbs per bu less than a year ago. If what I am seeing is correct, the traders are in for a big surprise this year. This crop is going to get smaller as we get closer to July of 2008.

• 10/10 - Northwest Ohio, Putnam County: Have shelled 110 acres of corn so far with yields on sandy soils 135-145. On the darker soils yield was better, around 170. Have been happy with that. We are located in the areas with some of the better soils so I don’t believe the yields will be as consistent overall for the rest of the county. Test weights have been 59-61 and the quality looks good. There was a lot of corn and beans that were lost from the 11 plus inches of rain we had in a 2 day stretch in August. Still have beans to combine. Yields have been good so far, 54-61. Lots of green straw like everyone else. I think the later maturing beans might be a little better on yield. The wheat looks good so far, growing good with the hot weather and moisture.

• 10/09 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: Did the waxy plot yesterday. Yields were from 159 to 202, Moisture from 15.4 to 18.0 TW 59-61. We were pleased. Quality was excellent. Can't remember every shelling corn and need/wanted the air on in the combine? Did some soybeans over the weekend and they were around 35. Later maturity beans this afternoon were in the low 60's. Fields were planted the within a day of each other and side by side. It seems pretty obvious to most casual observe that the later mat. Beans caught the August rains at a better time. Will start some fall tillage this week. A lot of wheat going in this week also. Several have finished with beans.

• 10/09 - East Texas Panhandle: Finished corn 10-1-07. Excellence yield up to 250 bpa irrigated under pivot. Best ever

• 10/09 - West Central Ohio, Allen County: Have shelled 80 acres of corn, 60 to 95 B/A. Moisture is from 18.4 to 23; test weight is 58 to 60. We were dry from end of May till 3rd week of August, then 9” in 48 hours. All summer the fields looked like rollercoaster tracks. It’s a wonder the high heat didn’t burn everything up. This field of corn was planted April 18. Beans are still on the green side haven’t cut any yet. Considering the amount of rain we had it could have been worse. This is the worst yields I have ever grown. Hope next year is a little wetter than this one was. Have a SAFE harvest.

• 10/09 - Central Indiana: First field of beans cut, 3.1 maturity, went 60.6 over the scale. Next field a 3.4 maturity was as green and tough to cut as it gets, went 78. Got 3.6 and 3.8 beans left to run. Interesting thing is that there are few beans left to cut in the area, many have gone to early maturity beans. Talk is a lot of them went 45-55 as they missed the full benefit from late August rain. Even the blind sow finds an acorn every once in a while, assuming this blind sow’s combine isn’t in a heap once they’re all run through. ps. No fungicide on any of these beans.
  

• 10/09 - Huntington Indiana: We finished up soybeans Sunday. Yields were from 55-65 and we have no clue where they came from. The late rain we got in August did a lot more good than anyone ever imagined. We are just getting started shelling some 107 day corn that is making around 175 bpa and testing 16%. This is definitely the year of early season moisture getting things out of the ground. If populations were good then yields are going to follow. We got quarter- inch of rain last night that will hopefully bring the wheat out of the ground and give it a good start. Many guys have waited on beans to ripen. I hope the weather stays nice and they can finish before it turns off cold and wet.

• 10/08 - Southwest Iowa, Montgomery County: We are very wet here and very far behind with harvest. Only about 10% of corn is harvested and less of the beans. Yields on the corn are off 15-20% of the 5 year ave. 140 is going to catch most of the corn. The beans are pretty good averaging in the high 50’s to 60bu. per acre. I’m glad I did not get carried away with planting corn on corn!

• 10/08 - Southwest Minnesota: Water, water, everywhere from 6-7 inches over the weekend.

• 10/08 - Southwest Minnesota: The whole county is very dry. Had some rain last week 1/4 to 3/4 inch fell, it was good for a few days. Heard of silage chopping maybe in 2 weeks. Beans look fair yet,scouted for a few aphids today will spray end of week or first of next. Maybe by then it will have rained.

• 10/08 - East Central Indiana, Randolph/Henry Counties: We are also seeing green stem soybean stalks reported by the south central Iowa farmer. Neighbor stopped running beans on Sunday September 30. He said this was the worst year trying to cut beans in 28 seasons. He could only run about 6 hours at a very slow 2.5 mph. Normally he runs close to 5 mph. Neighbor decided to let Mother Nature with this record setting heat try to dry down the stalks a bit in the first week of October. Moisture wise, between 6 and 11 percent. He did shell the 3 corner field last week because of deteriorating corn stalks. Yield was 142. Took one load to the elevator. Moisture was 19 percent at a 57 pound test weight.

• 10/08 - West Central Missouri: Started beans Friday. Running dry with green second life beans mixed in. We had hoped for 30 but looks like 22 to 25 is going to catch it. Rain this morning. Now those dry ones will start to pop.

• 10/08 - South Central Iowa: We had started in on beans but we are having a horrible problem with green stems. The beans are ready to combine but the stems are stopping us from getting them done. Beans are running mid 40's and testing right around 11. We decided to switch to corn this weekend. Ran our first field and it was hit hard by lack of rain from June all the way until the beginning of August. It is running around 140 and 16 on moisture. It was once again another "could have been great" year. We just can't seem to get rain in June and July anymore!

• 10/08 - South Central Minnesota: Tried to get the last of the beans yesterday before more rain. Not much success. Fields are cut up and rutted up. Overall we have about 4-5% of are beans that we can't get, these will have to stand till freeze up or maybe we will never get them. Some corn is out but huge ruts in the fields. Corn is really starting to break over. No tillage or fertilizer is happening. You generally can't till wheel tracks with water in them or fertilize around standing beans. Fields that have been harvested are turning green because the shatter loss is growing. Radio in Blue Each reporting another inch and a half and its still raining at 6 a.m. We need a major weather pattern change soon, or the field loss will really get ugly.

• 10/08 - St. Clair County, Southwestern Illinois: Harvest is almost complete here with the exception of late maturity beans and double crops. My corn averaged around 170 bpa with test weights between 56-58. The beans averaged in the low fourties. The double crops will make between 10-15. I have had one rain of an inch or better since May 27. This is the driest weather I have seen since 1954. We have rain predicted for Monday night, and we could sure use some. A few people have elected to start sowing wheat in the pure dust while I am waiting and hoping this rain develops. Many farmers have started ripping, chiseling, fertilizing, and spreading limestone. It was 91 degrees here today and it feels more like early June than October. We were so fortunate for the crops we had here. Fifteen to twenty miles south of here corn was running around 110 bpa and beans 15-20 bpa. My best guess is corn will bottom this week after the crop report on the 12th. I'm guessing that 13.6 billion is still possible based on some of the comments on this site. The bean picture could send the market either direction very quickly depending on the production number. I'm still looking at 70-30 corn for next season.

• 10/07 - Northeast Indiana, Huntington County: We should finish beans tomorrow (Monday, Oct 8). Our yields are very pleasing. From 47 to 60. Ground conditions are great. Wheat was up in a week A lot more wheat sowed this year than in the past.

• 10/07 - Chippewa County, Minnesota: From a spring where we couldn't get planted because of excessive rains to a summer where there were no rains, to a fall where now it's too wet to get the crop out. We buried the combine last night after dark, and now we have another 1.5" of rain today. It'll be weeks before we can get into some of these fields. No tile in these parts and very poor natural drainage. Poor to average yields, but getting the crops out is going to be the biggest challenge.

• 10/07 - West Central Ohio: Just finished bean harvest; average on 300 acres of beans was 53 bu/acre. Last 100 acres harvested was top dressed with fungacide and manganese in July and averaged over 58 bu/acre. The water levels in the pond and open ditch are almost as low as they were in 1999 when the bean yield was 35 bu/acre. The late rains in early Sept must have helped. I heard that corn in the area is about average, I guess I'll find out soon.

• 10/07 - Central Iowa, Hardin County: 800 acres of soybeans at 57 bu./acre delivered to town. 300 acres of corn done at 160 to 200 bu. per acre. Test wts. somewhat disappointing 54 to 57.

• 10/06 - Central Illinois, Piatt Co: 200 bu/a is common place in a pretty good area here. We had 300a field ave 210. Best to date had been 180 ave. I have never seen 200+ on our rolling hills ever. Only low ground. Beans from 40's to 70 with mid 50's ave. In June it was looking like 110 bu corn. One well timed rain at pollination did it all. It hardly rained much after pollination. Almost seems like bragging to talk of these yields after reading the low ones. But these are just the facts. We have put some low ones up here.....too often ourselves. Landlords please remember the bad times too when the cash rents come up for renewal! Most of you once farmed too! It seems when we often forget the bad times when all is good.

• 10/06 - Southeast Iowa: Had to harvest a lot of corn acres first because of the moist % beans. Corn on our farm has been going 230-260+ at 16% to 17.5%. Tried beans again today and it was going good but yield check shows that our fear about sds was worse than expected 28 bpa-44bpa real bad showing on real good ground that normal years is 60 to 70bpa.

• 10/05 - Yuma County Colorado: Corn Harvest underway this week. Irrigated corn should yield 225+. There will be a serious problem with storage. Also a lot of good dryland corn. We need some moisture for the wheat, high winds last week caused some localized blowing. How about thoses Rockies.

• 10/05 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: Finished our first field of soybeans. They went in the low 60's. Went to a field that will push it to be better than 40. They are in the same section, same number, different planting date by two days? Have been in an out of corn for 2 weeks. So far the lowest is 150, with a top of 180. Warm days are cheating our gas man with bin drying.

• 10/04 - Northeast Indiana, Dekalb County: Just starting beans here, run my first field and yielded low 40's, looked better than that, hearing some yields are from low 30's to low 40's, very disappointed so far, hope corn is better.

• 10/04 - West Central Missouri: Finished corn harvest this evening. Made 100 bu.per acre. Will start beans Monday.

• 10/04 - South Central North Dakota: Just finished the soybean harvest. Yields were disappointing at 33 bu/acre. The beans looked like they'd run in the 40's. Just not enough rain in July and August. Will start corn tomorrow. The neighbor says his is 19% moisture and he's happy with the yield, 150 +.

• 10/04 - Northern Illinois: We are located far northern IL, center of the state. Best crops ever, beans 2/3 done, corn 1/4 done, field averages for corn 175-225 bu/ac, beans 55-70 bu/ac. Field conditions are moist but not wet. Corn showing stalk rot/lodging more each day, moisture on corn 14-18%, never seen corn this dry this early, propane man will be the only sad guy in this area.

• 10/04 - Central Nebraska, near Kearney: Corn yields are in the 170 to 190 bu range which are 10% down from ave. Too much rain in the spring. Test wts are below ave. running in the 56 to 59 lb. range. Normal is 59 to 62 lb. in this area. Will start on beans in a few days. They look at least as good as average.
  

• 10/03 - West of Wichita, Kansas: It is very dry here. We have not mowed the lawn for at least 3-weeks. Completed dryland bean harvest this weekend. Our +3-ft tall beans made only 26 Bu/ac. The 105 F temps in August really took a toll. Early double crop beans made 22 bu/ac, not too bad. Milo harvest is approaching. Early planted crop is no good, in the 50 bu/ac range. Late June planted milo looks okay. It is time to plant wheat. There has been no planting at all in our area. Fields are very dry and the volunteer wheat has not germinated yet. Still looks like an extended dry spell ahead. I have just enough seed wheat for regular planting. Any replant requirement be a seed supply problem.

• 10/03 - Southeast Minnesota: So much for an early harvest in this area. Received 4-8” of rain since September 24th. Dried enough to get back in the field 2 days max last week and then you had to pick the right fields. Bean harvest started around the September 20th around here but since then have had only about 5 or 6 days that have been able to go. Some switched to corn last week, but it has rained everyday since Saturday and now everyone is sitting. With more rain in the forecast for this weekend it may be another full week until we are back at it. Soybean yields have been very good so far in the 55-65 bushel range. Corn yields also well above average in the 180-210 bushel range and the moisture level is 15-18%. The wind could be a curse and a blessing at the same time. We need it to help dry us out, but it could also start blowing corn over with all the moisture and the stalk quality that we have. No doubt there will be many fields left rutted up this fall and maybe some spots that will need to be left til a hard freeze. Have a safe harvest everybody!
  

• 10/03 - South Central Minnesota: 5"-9" of rain here over the last 10 days. Harvest here has turned into a disaster. Lots of wind has started to break over some corn stalks. More rain forecast for Friday and Saturday. We have bumper crop but are watching it deteriorate in the field.

• 10/03 - Western Iowa: 3 inches of rain and hail 400 acres of 60 bu soybeans almost a total loss . I haven't moved a wheel for two weeks. 20 bu corn on the ground. hail strip 2-3 miles wide 10 miles long.

• 10/02 - Southern Texas Panhandle: We have the best corn crop ever planted in this area. Corn yields are averaging from 210 to 270 bushes per acre. We sit in lines at the elevator for hours on the white corn. Local elevator was full two weeks ago. Hauling corn out every other day and harvesting every other day. Not enough trucks to keep up with the combines. The Lord has blessed us with a bountiful harvest, may we give Him thanks every day.

• 10/02 - Central Michigan, Ionia County: In Michigan, if you are the one hauling product from the combine - take a magazine to the field! Corn hoping for 115 bu. 20% M . Beans hoping for 33-35 Bu. 11-15% M. Beans are really weedy and make combining difficult. Last year was much more enjoyable. Here's to next year.

• 10/02 - Bowling Green, Ohio: Beans are doing 80+ and corn nothing under 225 bu. per acre.
  

• 10/02 - Southwest Ohio: Harvest is moving along now. Most have started. Almost all corn is finally under 20% moisture, lowest 124, highest 241 most around 160. Beans are down to 8%, some have stopped harvesting hoping for a rain tonight. Lowest I have seen is 28 bu, highest 61, all over the board but most below 45 which I think the state average will see. Field fires are a real threat, never saw it this dry at harvest.
  

• 10/02 - Northeast Illinois: Tested corn, still 25% not great yields. Harvested some beans at 11% but rained out. Not going to be in the fields for 2 or 3 days now. I keep hearing about these farmers that are getting 150 to 180 or even 200 bu/acre. We would be happy to get 140 here. So I don't feel sorry for them ONLY getting those averages. For the beans, we would be happy with 40. Some of the people reporting their yields on here are very hard to believe, when they say they didn't get rain, then their averages are so high.

• 10/02 - LaSalle County, Illinois: Over 1/3 beans done and switched back to corn with remaining beans w green stems etc. No beans yet above mid 40bu/acre. Yield monitor jumps all over just in one pass. Less than 30 to almost 60/acre. Sudden death and who knows what else hit hard. Sample has whoppers to BB size and smaller. Three-fourths done with corn and no fields yet below 200 dry. It is trying to make up for poor bean yields. Last two corn fields have been started and should also be above 200.
  

• 10/01 - East Central Indiana, Randolph/Henry Counties: I hate to think what yield potential we would have had if we had gotten decent rainfall this growing season which we did not. Neighboring towns of Mooreland, Parker City, Farmland and Winchester all got decent rains. We have run 150 acres of the early planted soybeans and were quite surprised. So far averaging 50bpa. Moisture content from 7 percent to 11 percent. Shelled end rows on the three corner field which is in low land. Corn running roughly 150bpa but moisture still above 20 percent. That field yielded a whopping 200 plus two years ago. Not very hopeful on the rest of the corn.

• 9/30 - South Central Minnesota, Faribault County: Harvest is at a dead stop here. Way too much rain. We were leaving some beans before the rain this weekend, but it will be awful when the rain quits. I wouldn't be surprised if some spots are left to freeze up now. We are just lucky that a lot of beans have already been combined. Corn is just getting started, some that were done with beans or waiting for bean fields to dry out have taken some corn. Yields have been 160 to 200 with moisture about 14-17% We had a good spring here and just enough rain this summer so I guess we are due for some bad weather this fall.

• 9/30 - Central Iowa, Marshall County. Not all beans in Marshall County are 60-75 as reported. First two farms, 62 and 58, 3rd field running 51. Final field will be less yet. Many others in 45-60 range according to local seed company production plant. Too much SDS and especially white mold. The grain samples are full of black sclerotia from the white mold. Some frost damage on late planted; some hard green beans in sample. Good yields, especially with these prices; well below last two years bean yields however.

• 9/28 - West Central Ohio, Auglaize County: We just started cutting beans earlier this week. Yields are higher then we expected. We have cut 110 acres so far, and the yield range is from 57 to 62 bpa. We had about .5" of rain on Wednesday, so some farmers have switched over to corn for a few days. Hearing yields of 180 to 202 bpa with moisture in the 18 to 19 % range. The rain was very spotty in our area this summer, so it won't be real surprising to hear of yields that are half of that 2 or 3 miles down the road.

• 9/28 - Southeast Nebraska: Corn harvest is progressing well but slowly because so much of it is down due to heavy winds in August and stalks weakened by June and July dryness. Most yields are running about 3/4 of past two years which were best crops ever. Some fields are 90% down and will do well to yield 50% of normal with a good bit of damaged grain. Soybeans are about ready to harvest. Some few have been cut. A lack of good rain in late August and September has cut the late season yield boost we had hoped for. Yields will run a bit below average. It's great to hear of many top yields, but in this area after early flooding and then dryness, we are missing out on the level of yields we have had the past two years.

• 9/27 - Steele County, Minnesota: Finished a 70 acre field last night of corn (102 day)that went 199 bu/ acre at 15.5 moisture. It was really enjoyable not to see the LP truck drive by. Soybeans seem to be running in the mid 50's. We recently received 1.75 to 3.5 inches of rain so its slow going.

• 9/27 - Central Michigan, Montcalm County: A hot dry summer hurt most crops in the area. Non-irrigated corn will probably won't average more than 80 to 100 bushel. Non-irrigated beans will probably be around 25bu/a. Our corn was 100% irrigated and should average from 180 to 200 bu/a. Most of the corn is at or below 20% moisture which is unheard of for this time of year. We will start running beans within the next week.

• 9/26 - Southeastern Illinois, Crawford County: Rained out today. So far we have harvested 515 acres of corn yielding 130-175 with a 150 average. 635 acres of beans yielding 32-56 with an average of 38. God continues to prove He can grow a good crop on a lot less rain than a farmer thinks he can.

• 9/26 - Bruce County, Ontario, Canada: We have harvested a couple hundred acres of soys and yield is averaging 34bpa (normal is 50), highest was 45bpa. 10% moisture isn't helping the weight. Our corn "looks" pretty good hope we are not disappointed with that yield. Best of luck to everyone, harvest safely.

• 9/26 - Northwest Iowa, Biema Vista County: Done with bean harvest all farms if averaged would end up about 49 bu. 10 % less than last year. Not did any corn yet but have been hearing a wide range from 106- 170.

• 9/26 - Central Minnesota: Took some soybeans out Monday morning before the rains came. Yields were a little better than I expected with 33 bushel/ac. average. Took some 89 day corn out last week that went 110 bushel which was absolutely amazing since we had no freaking rain from June 10-August 11. Folks, this is dryland yields on sandy loam soils, not heavy ground by any means. The crops were wilted for 45 days in a row, yet look at these yields!
  

• 9/26 - Northeast Nebraska: No frost yet. We need a couple weeks of Indian Summer to help dry the corn and beans. Corn south of US 30 being combined. Some corn being taken for silage. Yields should vary widely as some areas remained extremely dry.

• 9/26 - Huntington, Indiana: We finished the first field of soybeans last night. It ended up right at 50 bu/a. That is a pretty surprising yield due to the lack of moisture we had most of the summer. What is even better is those look to be the worst beans we will cut. A little rain last night will keep us out until at least late tomorrow so we’ll see what the rest is like.

• 9/25 - Marshall County Iowa: Bean yields are great 60 to 75 farm averages. Corn on the other hand is absolutely unbelievable, 230 to 280 farm averages!

• 9/25 - Mower County, Minnesota:. Harvest has been in full swing, have harvested a 3rd of corn crop, dry farms averaged 175 bus. north farms are averaging over 200 bus. Have harvested 400 acres of soybeans, yields have average 53 - 65 bus. Probably my best crop ever.

• 9/25 - Northwest Kansas: Excellent growing season mild n humid till 10th of August then heat came on. Don't think it hurt the corn to bad haven't tried anything yet, neighbors picking wet corn to the feedlot are anywhere from 215 bpa to some near 250 bpa irrigated. Tried some beans 9/23 3.3 maturity that we share one well on three circles corn, bean, wheat rotation. Maybe put on 6 inches of water and still making 65 and in the worst part of the field the monitor was showing good I think the high went around 95 or so they are just loaded with pods. Had an excellent wheat harvest anywhere from 75 to 45 bpa cant wait to get all the fall crops in. Hope everybody is having just as much fun as I am have a safe harvest.

• 9/25 - Northeast Saskatchewan, Canada: Harvest half done but stalled due rain. Cold and floods in May made late planting. Hot dry July hurt yields and quality. Frost in Aug took more quality. Wheat midge and Army worms reduced yields. Yields in my area as follows (Last year's yields). Wheat 30Bu/ ac (55), Barley 50bu/ac (80), Oats 100bu/ac (130), Canola 25 bu/ac (45). Be sure a safe harvest is still your priority. Comments are always interesting.

• 9/25 - Ontario Canada: We are located near Windsor. The first field of beans off AVE. farm 57 bpa in a good farm today but too green 65-70 bpa.
  

• 9/25 - South Central North Dakota: Rains in August added lots of pods to the soybeans but a frost in early September took them all. Soybean yields will be disappointing. Corn looks to be very good but we will need a nice fall. Lots of winter wheat has been planted. Sunflowers are coming off with yields of 1500-2000 lbs./acre. Have a safe harvest.

• 9/25 - North Central Iowa: Beans coming in between 25 - 35 per bushel.

• 9/25 - Lancaster County, Nebraska: Harvested 66 acres of corn 17-19% moisture, ran through dryer and hauled to town with an average of 130 bu./acre. We were very dry from mid June through August 8th. No beans out but getting close will start towards end of week or first part of next week weather depending, received 1.60 inches last night on top of 1.65 inches last week so we will be shut down for a while. Storage situation will be tight with many elevators going into harvest with a lot of old grain on hand.

• 9/25 - Central Illinois, Piatt County: What a year! Have never seen 200 bu corn on some of our hills ever. 15 % moisture and 58-61 lbs. Beans have been 49-57 bu. Mostly 55 though. 1st rain this morning in.......well......along time. That 280 corn in MN must be something to see! Can't say as I ever saw anything like that here. We went through eastern MN on way to fishing trip in early August. Nothing like that there for sure. It was all burned up. Just like Wisconsin was burned up. Horrible to see for sure from road let alone if it was mine. Been there done that too though.

• 9/24 - North Central Tennessee: Just wanted to let you guys know that that I cut 49 acres of 4.8 beans over the weekend. Took them to the elevator today and they weighed out to a yield of 8.8 bu/ac. Green damage was 17% (about 55 cents/bu.) Same farm made 62 bu/ac last year. Most of the area corn was in the 70-80 bu/ac range. We missed all the rain around here.

• 9/24 - Northwest Ohio, Ottawa/Sandusky County: Harvest is barely beginning here. Few beans have been harvested. I haven't heard of any yields, but the fields harvested didn't look to be more than 40 bpa. The later beans will be better as pod counts are in the 60's with three beans per pod. Very little corn has come into the local co-op. Moisture counts are in the low 20's. Corn is still standing well so no hurry to harvest yet. ADM terminal in Toledo, OH port is offering early
  corn delivery program, but incentives do not outweigh profit pontential if held in the bin for later delivery. Extra wheat seed in this area is non-existant. Hopefully there will not be a need to replant wheat because there will not be any to be found. The weather this year versus last year at the onset of harvest is 100% better, as last year was one of the wettest falls on record. Have a safe harvest everyone.

• 9/24 - St. Clair County, Southwestern Illinois: We are finishing up corn harvest today. My corn in the northern part of the county averaged around 200 bpa. My corn in the middle part of the county averaged 170 bpa. My corn in the southern part of the county averaged 150 bpa. We were so dry in July and August and two rains to the north, one in the middle, and none in the south reflect my corn yields. We did not use one gallon of LP. The guys at the river have plenty of storage this fall due to the fact many farmers have increased their storage at home after it was stuck to us in 2005 with Katrina and Rita. Bean harvest is underway with moisture as low as 8 percent. The beans are absolutely horrible as expected. My neighbor cut a fourty acre patch the other day and couldn't fill a tractor trailer. The beans are fifteen to just over fourty if you are VERY FORTUNATE. My double crops look like 10 bpa. I am looking so forward to running the combine through them. Yea Right! Rain is predicted for the next two days and we need it badly. Wheat planting will commence in the next week or so assuming we get some rain this week. If it doesn't rain, it will be too dry to sow. Some guys are already ripping and chiseling ground. If you do it too early, weeds will be a definite problem next spring.

• 9/24 - South Central Iowa: Harvest draws close for us here. The corn died at the end of July when we didn't get rain. A field check of all of our fields shows our estimate of 145 to 150 bpa. We had 2 months of totally dry from the start of June to the end of July. It killed the corn crop for us. We have 3.9 beans and the August rains that seem to come every year work out perfect for these late beans and they could easily be the best beans we have ever had! We will start on some 3.4 beans this weekend that will probably run 45 bpa and the 3.9's will probably run 60 bpa. I was up in North Central Iowa this last weekend and they are working corn and beans in that neck of the woods. Some corn has come off here but it is 20+ moisture and those guys like the LP bill more than we do! We will let mother nature do it the old fashion way!

• 9/23 - Martin County, Minnesota: Took out some corn over the weekend, the dry weather never hurt this area! Yield monitor anywhere from 230-280!

• 9/22 - Northwest Georgia: When it rains, it pours…no rain here since July and then very little. Last week we received 5+ inches over about 30 hours, which is too much too late. Pastures are gone, hay is in very short supply and our only hope is enough moisture in the next 30 days to get winter annuals up and growing.

• 9/22 - Northern Iowa: Bean yields 58-65. Averaged 55 last year. Corn is variable 150-200. 3 weeks of dry weather in July took some off the top.

• 9/21 - Mills County Iowa: 33 acres of refuge corn harvested produced 151 @18.8%

• 9/21 - Southwest Kansas: Don't believe everything you read! Pretty bold statement to include all of southwest Kansas in one's crop comment's. Ask any crop consultant and they will tell you there is some good corn around, but we have a lot of weather related damage to corn field's. Corn is falling down due to high winds and poor stalk quality. If harvest was completed today most would agree we would have a 10 to 15 bushel better than average yield. But harvest is along way from being over!!!

• 9/20 - St. Clair County, Southwestern Illinois: The corn harvest is sixty percent complete here with yields in this part of the county running much higher than our neighbors to the south. My corn is averaging around 190 bpa with 56-57 test weight. The grain dryer didn't even get turned on this season with moisture content running as low as 11 percent. I believe the USDA will have to raise the estimate on corn to 13.6 billion. I can't believe I just said that. The bean crop on the other hand is nothing short of atrocious. Yields are running from 15 bpa in the south and to the east and if you are very lucky you get 40 bpa around here. My double crops will not make ten bpa after being around fourty the past few years. I believe corn and bean intentions will be somewhat back to normal in 2008 and I will try to forward contract almost all of my 2008 bean crop. Finding wheat seed is like trying to find the winning lottery numbers. It is two to three weeks before we start sowing wheat in this area. The ground is way to dry to germinate the seed at this point. I was fortunate to be 70-30 on corn in 2007 and I will do the same for 2008.

• 9/20 - Eastern Iowa, Cedar County: Lots of combines starting to roll in this area with a 50-50 split between corn and beans. Some beans are extremely dry, 8%, while others are still green. Bean yields are quite variable ranging from 35 bu/A to 60 bu/A field averages. Sudden death syndrome really took the top end off of a lot of varieties. Corn is excellent with most reports
  in the 220 bu/A category. Moisture is dropping fast, some as low as 17%. Most farmers in our area would believe that the corn estimate is too low and the bean estimate is too high. Have a safe harvest.

• 9/20 - Southwest Ontario, Canada: Harvested first field of beans and was disappointed but not surprised 25 bu/ac and 12% moisture. These were an early bean and hopefully the fuller season ones are better. No rain in July until mid August does not produce beans. Last year on beans we averaged 58 bu/ac and 195 for corn. This year looks like half.

• 9/20 - Northwest Iowa, Cherokee County: First beans to be taken out around here tested 14.2% and were running 50-53 bu/ac. Late group 1 maturity. Looks as though we might get started again next week after the 1/2 in of rain that fell the other day. Some have put the corn head on and yields are all over the board, from 40 bu to 215 bu. Moisture is running from 18-24 % depending on maturity. Time will tell if corn on corn was the right thing to do this year.

• 9/20 - Scott County, Iowa: Corn is very good. Beans have been a disappointment. Yields all over the board in the same field. The size of beans in my hopper range from very small to large, with average seed size at best. Lots of BB's. Doesn't make much sense with all of the rain we had in July and August. Beans running at least 10-20 bu/ac less than hoped. If this is the "breadbasket" area for crops.... then hold on to your horses and watch the soy market go.

• 9/19 - Washington County, Iowa: So far things are looking great for yields, corn has been averaging 220 and up so far at 16 – 20% moisture. There has been very few beans taken out but they are yielding good so far. Currently we are 8-10% done with corn.

• 9/19 - South Central Minnesota: Took one field of corn over the weekend. 95 day maturity was 16.2-18.1 moisture and averaged slightly over 200bu in volume, but it only weighed 52-53 pounds. Maybe the hot weather hurt the test weight. Combined a few beans, not too good, about 40bu. Hope this was the worst field, had some SDS in it. Heard some beans yielding in the 50s.

• 9/19 - Southwest Illinois, St. Clair County: Corn harvest is on the home stretch. I would say county wide 75% is harvested. Some areas are just about finished. Yields have been all over - 180 field averages were fairly common on the early planted corn in the north part of the county. Those averages fell as you moved south all the way to near 100 in the far south area that was very dry and has more varied soil types. The May planted corn is less in most instances and again 140-160 seems common in the north to 80-90 in the south part. I would say the county average should fall around 135 give or take 5. On June 1 we had a bumper crop in the making but the heat and dry 4 weeks of June and the heat and dry 6-8 weeks in July/August cooked our crop. I do feel that most have better corn yields than they anticipated.

  Bean harvest is not going too much. A few have nibbled at fields here and there. Beans range from being dead and ready to harvest 3 weeks ago to plants with yellow leaves and butter beans, often in the same row. I have heard very poor quality of those fields harvested. We have been hoping for yields in the 30-40 range, but I am hearing yields just east of us coming in at 20-30 and they thought they had 30-40 as well. I have heard of loads rejected for very small seed and green beans. On August 1 I thought we had great potential, now it appears that we will have the worst bean crop in 20+ years. If bean yields are as bad as early reports are, we will see lots of wheat planted this fall and lots of corn planted next spring. Beans need to be $15 a bushel if you are going to pay the bills with 25 bushel yields.
  

• 9/19 - Northeast Nebraska: Started on corn that was planted April 17th..1-02 day irrigated was about 5-10% less than 5 yr average was dry at 15-16 but test weights were only 54 to 55 104 day was also light on test weigh... corn just matured to fast. Some broken stalks going to be lots of stalk rot. Had frost on last sat morning. Took green beans to a dead looking color. I'm sure going to lose some bushels

• 9/18 - Central Iowa, Hardin County: I have harvested a heck of a lot of 250 bu. per acre corn so far. We're just getting started, but the yield monitor looks good. I haven't harvested any beans yet, but I don't think I'll be surprised on the upside. I've been in fields and they look rough.

• 9/18 - Southeast Nebraska,Gage County: Harvest is just getting under way in the area. We had a very dry July with spotty rains in some areas. Picked a 120 acre field of triple stacked dryland corn at 110 bu an acre. This was on a continuos no-tilled farm that was planted early April. I feel very fortunate considering how dry it was, but we did have a lot of subsoil moisture coming in. Many later planted fields are not near as good as there have been fields of corn appraised as low as 16 bu per acre. There is also a lot of stock rot in the area with more corn falling over every day. Irrigated corn looks very good as I started in a field last night that looks to be yielding in that 200 bu range. No beans have been harvested yet, but I don't expect them to be a bin buster as the August rains came a little late to make a big difference. I look for dry yields in the 20 to 40 range and irrigated in the 50bu range. Everyone have a safe harvest!

• 9/18 - Corpus Christi, Texas, on the Gulf Coast: What a roller coaster ride the last 3 years have been, with 2 years of one of the worst droughts the area has ever seen. Now this year starting with planting season, the wettest ever seen. Some cotton fields were replanted 3 times, and harvest has been a nightmare but all is well that ends well. We knew with delayed plantings of sorghum and cotton that our harvest would be delayed a month or so and run into hurricane season. What we didn't know about was all the rain. Thank goodness there was no hurricane and the wind associated with one. Our yields were terrific for dry land, averaging 4500 to 5000lbs per acre for grain sorghum and a bale and 3/4 for cotton with some quality loss on the grain due to the delayed harvest.

• 9/18 - Phillips County, Nebraska: Wheat going in mainly in dry dirt we are getting into a really serious problem if we cant get the crop up. Millet harvest on the last leg huge yields, record wheat yields, and going to actually have to pick the dryland corn good times for this area.

• 9/18 - Southwest Kansas: Wet corn harvest is near complete, and dry corn will be in full swing by end of the week. Yields will be record across the entire area of Southwest Kansas, possibly exceeding by 5-10%. We had excellent planting weather, followed by few extreme heat days with adequate moisture through most of vegetative stage thru pollination. Late heat in august, but only to help corn finish off with good weights. Farmers done an excellent job of controlling diseases with foliar applications near pollination. Full fields yielding in excess of 260 bu/acre on high management and average fields producing 200+. Extreme harvest problem for storage expected within days, as ground piles begin to form.
  

• 9/16 - Cheyenn County, Nebraska: Wheat is rapidly going in the ground. Moisture OK to short. Millet is mostly in the windrow some has been pickup Yields? Some fields are not going to make 10 bu/ acre. After a fair wheat harvest the millet will qualify for crop insurance claims. The price is down to 3.75 per bushel. It will probably go lower. There is a reported huge crop coming out of the Washington Co. Colorado area.

• 9/16 - Southwest Ohio: We opened up a wet field so our landlord could get access to another field. Yields are very good for 6 inches of rain. Our goal is 150 bu dry but it is whatever it is. We did all we could to produce whatever we have. Our no-till fields get better and better and the root pits showed corn roots at 50 inches in every field. We moved to the home farm and found similar yields but at least 20 bu better where we had better weed control. Weed control is essential and will make the trait corns look better where the weeds were controlled. We did not have quite enough moisture to activate chemicals on the applied fields. We see more and more fields opened up with harvest so farmers can get their combine and grain systems working up to full speed.

• 9/15 - North Central North Dakota: Crops were very good in our area, Wheat 40-50 bu. to the acre. Canola was 30-35 and flax about 25 bu to the acre. Sunflowers froze last week and with temps in the 80s this weekend they should start to dry down nicely. Would like to plant some winter wheat but we need some rain in order to plant.

• 9/15 - Southern Brazil, Parana: Emergency meetings are being called all over the state. Soybean seeds turned to be terrible this year. Too much rain when it was combined .Many lots are being canceled. No strength to germinate. Some co-ops are desperate to get seeds for the farmers.

• 9/15 - Northwest Illinois, Carroll County: We have combined 300 acres of corn so far. (from 102RM - 107RM) 100 acres of 102 day corn averaged 235. 80 acres of 107 day corn went 248. 106 day went 255. We are very fortunate. Beans are 10 days away. Only a few guys have started corn. I hope everyone has a great and safe harvest.

• 9/15 - Big Stone County, Minnesota: 120 acres of beans cut .8 mat. went upper 40's around 48 very good 1.2 should due even better.

• 9/14 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: Reports of yields from 160 to 206 on corn with 16%-18% moisture. Soybeans (mid II's) planted late April in the 50's @ 12%-13% moisture. The combines will really start rolling around here next week.

• 9/14 - South Central Kansas: I keep reading that the wheat market is trying to buy acres for next year. Seem laughable to me since the new crop price is dead in the water. With inputs so high, I will be moving more acres to beans. If they want to buy acres, the 08 price needs to move to at least $6.50 local or KCBT of about $7. And the market comments are correct, there is no seed wheat available locally. If we have a rain event after planting that causes a need for replant, we will be in trouble.

• 9/14 - Southeast North Dakota: Frost hit here on the 12th. Not all the beans were ready for temps in the 20's. Quite a few late planted beans needed more time. I expect those fields will have light test weights and green beans. The corn seems fine. The last few days have been unseasonably cold. Winter wheat planting is progressing rapidly. The main bean harvest is 2-3 weeks off.

• 9/12 - Appleton, Minnesota: Got up at 5:30 this morning and the temp at the airport was showing 30 degrees. By this afternoon all the corn and beans in the area are showing it. Most crops were safe, but there were still some green beans trying to put on some new pods after the rains of a few weeks ago. A couple of guys picking corn. Heard most corn in the area is short of expectations.

• 9/12 - North Central Iowa, Kossuth County: Started beans today 9/12/07 some of the best beans ever. Can’t believe we could raise beans with no rain from July 4 thur the 26th. Had three yield checks and all were over 65 at 12%. Hope corn follows suit!

• 9/12 - Piedmont, North Carolina: Broke the record in August for the highest recorded temperature ever in this area. This is a very large poultry growing area including myself and wells are going down everywhere. I just finished corn and how it averaged 107 bu. per acre is beyond me, had my land not been 100% continuos no-till for 20 years with poultry litter applied for over forty years it would not have cut 50 bu per acre. We have been as hot and dry as ever before, a large number of people are baling corn stalks to feed cattle or they are going to sell them because there is no grass. Some folks are already bailing soybeans for hay because they just aren't going to produce enough to run a combine over them. I will now go back with all wheat and plant soybeans after the wheat is cut next June. We certainly need a very wet winter to replenish some of our lost subsoil moisture.

• 9/12 - Morrison County, Minnesota: Got down to 30 degrees this morning. However, most of the corn is blacklayered and the soybeans are getting fairly mature so I would think the frost will actually help dry down the crops. Silage harvest is about complete. The severe drought here really hurt the crops this year, though the corn some how or another still produced some cobs and with the rain finally coming in August, the corn and soybeans filled out pretty decent. I would have to say 80-100 bushel corn and 35 bushel soybeans. Considering the lighter soils here and 2 inches of rain from May 26-August 11, that ain't too bad.

• 9/12 - Northeast Nebraska: Temperatures in the low 40s and some mid 30s this morning. Most beans still green. Corn has started to dent but is still has high moisture. Predictions for even lower
  temperatures next week could bring fears of frost or freeze. Some dryland crops suffered during the late summer heat. Early September rains may help dryland beans but the rains were spotty.

• 9/12 - Western Minnesota: Corn and beans look to be average for this area. Early frost and excessive rain in June have caused more damage than the dryness so far. Very dry now, but still have chance for near normal yields with some good rains soon.

• 9/12 - Benton County, Indiana: Corn harvest underway, but just barely. Yields seem to be over achieving, considering minimal rain during growing season. A good friend of mine completed his first field where a 102 day hybrid, planted 4/10 went 203 bpa at about 16% moisture. These are good black soils so we'll see.

• 9/12 - Southwest Illinois, St. Clair County: Corn harvest is in full swing. I’d estimate 1/3 of the crop is off. The early planted corn has been pretty good. 110-140 in the lighter soils in the south to yields in the 160-190 range on the better soils in the north. Moistures are very dry with elevators reporting nothing coming in over 16% and most 12-14%. May planted corn is the 20% range and will come off soon. I suspect it will be 20-30 bushels less than the April plantings, if we are lucky. Corn quality is decent with test weights fair at 55-58lbs for the most part. This isn’t the crop we had our sights set on June first, but given the record August heat and lack of rain we have to be somewhat pleased that we will wind up with an average to slightly above average crop. The heavy rains this past week will help some beans, but it was 2-3 weeks too late. I think most 1st crop beans will be 30-40 bushel and double crops will run 10-20. Both about 15 bushel off the average. Lots of wheat seed bought and supplies are tight.

• 9/12 - Northeast Iowa: Yields are great here in northeast Iowa. Hopefully our new bin is up in time. Storage will be the problem here. Some yield checks were 230+ on corn & into the 60's on soybeans.

• 9/11 - Faribault County, Minnesota: Took some early 1.6 maturity beans out on 9/9, earliest ever. Don’t have any yield numbers yet, but the beans were SMALL. About 12% moisture and I would guess 10 to 20 bu per acre less than my best.

• 9/11 - Northeast Iowa: I've been trying to fill silo and make third cutting hay, in between all of the rain showers. Had another 1.5 inches yesterday, it's been a very stressful month. I noticed a fair amount of stalk rot in some corn fields. I think we better start the harvest earlier this year, otherwise I can see a big yield reduction. Some brands have had anthracnose problems for over a month. So pay the gas bill or leave it the field.

• 9/10 - Northwestern Winona County, Minnesota: Excellent crops, I expect 180-200 bu corn and 55 to 60 bu beans. We had a good soil moisture profile at planting and adequate rains except for the usual dry period in the last part of July. Ridge tilled corn and no tilled beans (on the ridges) along with clay under soil prevented much corn stress. Considerable amount of corn residue around the "feet" of the beans also helped keep moisture in the ground. The only downside was the need to spray all of my bean acres for aphids, the first time I've had to spray anything but herbicides for many years. The reports on dry down of corn from the early harvesting makes me optimistic that I will, for the 3rd year in a row, be able to harvest late and haul 15% moisture corn directly to the river at Winona (25 miles) and cheat the lp man one more time! It helps to plant a variety with excellent drydown capability. I will keep my 50-50 corn-bean rotation and will stick with my marketing advisor who sends me an e mail every morning. When he gets sell signals between January and June, I'll pull the trigger. Virtually all of my forward sold 07 crop was $4 plus for corn and $8 plus for beans, so it's working well. Have a good harvest and don't push yourself to the point of danger!
  
  
• 9/10 - South Central Michigan: Since Aug 20th, we had received over eleven inches of rain and more coming as I write this. Ponds are all over the place because the ground cannot take anymore. Our corn is lodging all over because the drought did not allow the anchor roots to develop. What a mess!! Our beans are yellowing dead fast with all the rain. All the farmers do the same as we are going to do, and that is to get out the good corn and beans out first, and like a lot of producers out there now will tell that the yields are wonderful. BUT, when you get out the bad fields that were hurt by the drought and floods, you will hear the low yields coming out which will not surprise us producers who deal with the reality of the real risk in the markets. This is the factor that all of the final proofs will ascertain the corn yield to be below 13 billion bushels. The markets better start bidding up corn acres soon because everyone here are definitely going to cut back on corn. Our governor is petitioning the federal government to declare all 83 counties of Michigan a disaster for this growing season. Lastly, we here are going to get educated about going to switchgrass.
  
  
• 9/10 - South Central Kansas: I was checking our May 20th planted dryland beans last night. The beans looked great all summer with a growth height of 3-4 ft. This is very unusual for dryland beans in our area just west of Wichita. We had a week or so of 105 F temps in August. This really took a toll on the beans. Some pods with only 1 or 2 beans and all bean seeds are flat, indicating a yield drop of probably 30%. I hope it is no worse. We had the making for a 50 bu/ac crop that I expect will be challenged to hit 30 bu/ac.
  
  
• 9/10 - St. Clair County, Southwestern Illinois: It can rain here! We had an inch and half of rain from Thursday through Saturday. Corn harvest will start back up on Monday but rain is predicted. My early corn is running in the 180's with some of the moisture down to 11.5 percent. I have never seen it that low before. I'm looking at the seven day forecast and I see lows over the weekend in the upper thirties. Oh boy, all we need is a frost as bad as the beans are here. The USDA report is obviously going to have to revise corn up and beans down. If it frosts this weekend, beans will be in double digits in a hurry. It is just my opinion. It appears as if the crickets are invading everything after this rain. Next years planting intentions will be very interesting if wheat breaks $9.00. Please be safe.

• 9/09 - Southwest Minnesota, Western Brown County: Combined 170 acres of early soybeans and was surprised at the lower 50's for yield considering dry summer. Hopefully the later maturity will be as good.
  
  
• 9/09 - Hart Co., Northeast Georgia: As I said the last time I wrote in what a difference a few weeks makes, this time for the worse! Three straight weeks of 100 degree plus weather and five weeks with basically no rain has cooked our pastures, beans, milo and hay fields. Creeks are dry that have never been dry people are selling cow herds left and right because of no water and no hay and to top it all off army worms are in the lower end of the county! If they come to our place, they will have to pack a lunch. 1993 and 2001 were dry but not this bad this long .What a challenge this year has been but as my father used to say it always rains at the end of a dry spell and it will rain at the end of this one too. May God keep you all safe this harvest season.
  
  
• 9/09 - Central Illinois, Piatt County: Well first yields on corn going shade over 200 bu/a. This being refuge, non BT and white. Moisture running low 20's. At $.03 a point it adds up quickly.If going to local foodgrade elevator then OUCH!!!!!!!!!!! They like to charge way over the $.03. Beans since lost many leaves and look to be 50 bu/a +. I just heard yesterday LP took a big jump......Surprise! Ya just aint gonna win in this biz.You make a buck and everyone else lined up to take it. N was $195 this yr and heard it will be $295 next yr. Well good luck to all!

• 9/08 - Southeast Wisconsin: Took a look around for the weather. The crops look respectable but finding anthracnose setting in on the corn. I'm scared I will be paying the gas man extra to save myself from down corn. Beans starting to yellow.

• 9/07 - Winona Co., southeast Minnesota: We have our boxing gloves on all the way to the end. We started out this spring with a good crop. Corn had good planting conditions. Plenty of moisture during planting and good emergence. Soybeans were a different sorry. Soybeans got planted in good weather but the soil had pockets of dry dirt. This created uneven emergence. Some soybean seeds sat in the ground 10 days waiting for rain. Then came summer. Crops were looking very good at June 1. Then no rain or spotty rain/cloud bust for 3 to 4 weeks. June 21 we had hail for 1//2 hour on 2/3 of our crops. We had some areas that didn’t get the hail and looked great. 2 weeks ago we had 18”-21” rain…depending on where you stood in the field…lots of flooding and total loss of life and material items and crop conditions started to deteriorate. Now it is September and some of the neighbors are starting in on silage corn. Reports are good when the crop hasn’t been hailed on. Now the corn and beans are maturing rapidly. I am hearing of equipment being stuck in the mud and needing to be pulled out with wreckers and 4-wheel drive tractors. Some early planted beans will be starting to get harvested next week. It is looking like we will be fighting all the way to the end of harvest.
  
  
• 9/07 - McLeod County Minnesota: Combined beans 13% yield at 28 bu. per acre.
  
  
• 9/07 - Southern Minnesota, Steele Co.: Our corn planted on April 21 has black layered. That is a first for us in early September. It has dried down to 21% moisture. The stalks are still good quality. We would like to put the lp gas man out of business too. Our soybeans are starting to turn now. Timely rains and heat make good crops.

• 9/06 - West Central Illinois: Corn is better than expected considering we only had 3 inches of rain during the whole growing season. Beans on the hand, are a total failure. Heard reports of 25 bushel soybeans today. This is on good dirt, early group 3's. Looked at some of ours and feel sick to my stomach. They cooked in the few pods that were on the plant. My feeling is that corn is under estimated and beans need a downward correction. Have a safe Harvest.
  
  
• 9/06 - Southwest Ohio, Montgomery County: Neighbor up the road ran some early beans this week, said yield was in the mid 20's. Our full season varieties are just starting to yellow and we don't expect any better. Some pods have only one or two beans, most plants showing pod counts in the low 30s and the beans are small. The dry summer has taken its toll. Corn is variable in the area but no harvesting or yield reports yet. Rain in the forecast (40% chance) this weekend may help with bean size. We have already alerted our insurance agent.

• 9/05 - North central Iowa farmer: Just went on a trip from Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico. The trip was 1000 miles and except for about 50 miles in Missouri the crop looked great for both corn and beans. Harvest had progressed to the Iowa border. I believe what Mark Gold said -- that the USDA has under estimated the crop size on both crops. Cotton also looked good. Here I would guess that were a little above average -- 180 and 55.
  
  
• 9/05 - Sibley County, south central Minnesota: Crop insurance adjuster was here on 9-1 and adjusted 250 acres of corn cut for silage. Yield was 67.1 bushels per acre. This ground was corn or alfalfa last year and produced 200 bushel corn last year. 7 weeks without rain took its toll.
  
  
• 9/05 - Northeast Nebraska: Stalk rot is taking over on some fields. Ear was not quite finished so it is shrinking.

• 9/04 - East Central North Dakota: Soybeans and corn coming on quickly. Essentially no rainfall in August. Stalk rot on the corn that wasn't treated with Headline is significant. The corn crop is made, I expect yields at 130 to 150 bu/ac. The beans got hurt by the heat we've had of late. Lots of top pods aborted on the later beans in the last week. Yields on the beans should be from 35-40 bu/ac. The wheat crop was good with yields from 40-50 bu/ac. Sold half the wheat at harvest for $5.50. The price today is over $6.50. Safe harvest to all.

• 9/04 - South Central Indiana, Johnson County: Early corn yield reports are from 80 - 110 bu/ac at 15 -17% moisture. If soybeans make 30 bu/ac most will feel lucky. Double crop beans are being baled. Small squares of mixed hay now $8-10 each and large rounds of grass/clover at $80-100 each. Hard to make a crop without water. From areas driven this weekend this extends from St Rd 37 east to the Indiana/Ohio line and south of US 40 to the Ohio river. Basically the entire SE 1/4 of the state. There are pockets in each county that got spot showers and will be better, but most will be claiming some crop insurance.

• 9/04 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: August was good to us with somewhere between 5"-8" of rain. In some places setting records for the month. It really helped our soybeans fill pods from top to bottom of the plant, put on some new growth and still blooming. We do have some SDS going on in some places around us. A trip to the corn field Labor Day told us we're about 2-3 weeks ahead of normal. It is not often that we get to the corn field before the third week in Sept. I think we could go within a week. As with lots of other producer reports stalks are in not such good shape. We raise a lot of Waxy corn and don't have the "tripple stacks" for insect protection. Even with that what stalks we've pushed over are coming right back. We do have some ear worm and shank worm damage. This is not going to be a crop that we leave in the field very long.

• 9/03 - Southwestern Illinois, St. Clair County: It's still hot and dry as the cactus, oops I mean the bean crop withers away here. There will definitely be no issue with bean storage in this area. I would guess 70 percent of the county is corn and the rest is beans. The beans are dying off from lack of rain and I would guess yields have been reduced twenty percent or so. If the county averages above 35 bpa it would be a miracle. The double crops are 0 to 10. I have been picking corn at a furious pace due to the moisture content being down to 13 percent. The LP delivery guy may be out of work this fall. The test weight is light coming in between 56 to 57. My corn planted in the middle of April is running in the middle 180's. The later corn maybe in the 130's. If we had these kind of conditions five to ten years ago, our corn wouldn't have broken 100 bpa. Science and genetics are amazing. The three fears going on here are a storm taking down the brittle stalks, no moisture to put in wheat, and fire danger. We have rain predicted for later this week, I'm sure its coming. Wink! Wink! The lawn guys have been put out of business and the local stores stopped carrying rain gauges and umbrellas. I can't believe the size of the cracks in the yards and fields.
  

• 9/03 - Northeast North Dakota: Barley crop was variable. Yields range from about 60 with light test weight to about 90 with good test weights. Varity, too much rain on some fields, and stage of growth when temps got over 90 F. caused the uneven production. A new wheat we were able to get seed for ran about 80 b/a by the bin measurement. Another new wheat from NDSU was 62 b/a across the scale. Both fields had been pinto beans last year.

• 9/03 - South Central Nebraska: I work at a fertilizer plant and have watched the progress of the corn and bean crop all year. I am a retired farmer so I still have a keen interest in the crops and the markets. The past week the corn crop has started to turn brown like a frost hit it. Most of the crop here was sprayed for gray leaf, but the hot humid weather has pushed the crop so fast that it is giving up. There is much stalk rot setting in and I am afraid the corn reels will be running on the cornheads again this year and there will be a fair amount of field loss.There will still be a good crop though.Last year on the 15th of Sept. we had a big wind storm that flattened the crop, we hope that doesn't happen again this year.

• 9/03 - Putnam County, Ohio: Late rains the last two weeks has put some growth on the beans, I'm hoping for 30 bu range, down from the normal 45-50. I did a yield check on the corn tonight, ears are small and the kernals short, estimated yield 52 bpa. Three miles north of me crops are a lot better, three miles south of me crops are a lot worse. 2nd cutting alfalfa made 100 lbs per acre, 3rd is ready to cut, may make close to 400 lbs. Corn silage is starting to come off to make up for the hay shortage, yields are running 12 tons per acre and drier than expected. Good luck to all and God bless bankers.

• 9/03 - Central Nebraska: We are 30 days from harvest. Looks like harvest will be down 10-20% mostly because of hail in early July. Dry crops are hurting also. Put Headline on with pivots. Seem to help 20% on yield Preliminary).
  

• 9/02 - North Central Iowa: Will be combining corn in the next 10 days. Received an 8 cent basis last June at a local ethanol plant for Sept. delivery. It really pays to negotiate. It looks like early beans will be ready in about 10 days also. Everything is 2-3 weeks early. Corn should range in the 170-210 bpa range. About the 5 year average. We have such a good stand this year it will be interesting to see if that makes a difference. I think beans look excellent. I'm in a 80-20 crop rotation and if my 20% beans can't average 60 BPA this year I'll be disappointed. Prepaid anhydrous 490 per ton. Looks like my rotation next year will be 70-30.

• 9/01 - Southern Brazil: I am a farmer in southern Brazil, in the west of the state of Parana. We had a very dry winter here. Some cold days also. Wheat harvest has begun at 40 bushels/acre. Summer crops will be planted in September. Corn first and in early October soybean. Prices favor corn crop. Ratio soybean/corn is at 1,76. Farmers will plant much more corn then last year. Europe is buying a lot of corn to be delivered next February. Much better price then Chicago. Corn is king here.

• 9/01 - Northeast Kansas: I shelled our first 200 acres of corn this week. I was not expecting much due to the drought this year which brought us less than an inch of rain in June and July. The first field had some creek bottom which helped it average 125 bpa. The next field was all upland and it came in about 110. The last field was a hill that made 86. Moisture was about 15% out of the field. Heavy lodging from wind made harvest a mess. I hope we find some better corn as we move along as this is pretty depressing after reading all the comments of high yields.

• 8/31 - South Central Nebraska: The best corn crop ever is flat on the ground .My best year in farming is next year good harvest to all.

• 8/31 - South Central Iowa, Warren County: I went out last night to continue trimming a fence row. As I drove into the bean field I noticed one odd weed sticking up a couple hundred yards back from the road into the field. Although it wasn't too far in from the edge of the field. It had 3 leaves that had a silhouette against the sky like no weed I'd ever seen in my field before. As I drove slowly down the fence line toward where I was going to continue my work, and toward the one odd weed, I was driving so that the sun was behind me when I was looking at the weed. I was almost at the closest point the fence row would get to the weed and I was about to stop and go investigate closer when two of the three leaves moved. It was then that I realized that I was looking at a doe straining to get its nose and ears over the top of the bean canopy so it could see what I was doing. No wonder I didn't recognize those "leaves." The beans are growing well, about as tall as a deer when it is stretched as tall as it can get, except where the deer have been "harvesting" the field since early in June. There the beans are almost up to the top of my work boots. I also have about 5 acres where the deer have kept the corn below waist high. Other than that, the early planted corn looks really good. The later planted corn went through a really rough patch in July, and is still fired in some cases as high as the ear, and it is much yellower than the earlier planted corn. We've had 8" of rain in the last 3 weeks, ending with 6" in three days, the last 2" of that came in about 6 hours. We should be good through harvest now for moisture.

• 8/31 - Central Ohio, Union County: We have been blessed with the best weather that I can remember,corn only rolled up for about 3 days in July and rains came and kept coming. Looks like great crop for us but may have some stalk issues as some spots look like they may want to fall down. Beans are podding right out the top of the leaves and look good. Best ground 20 miles north and south of us has been too dry most of summer then many areas north got up to 15 inches of rain last week. Have a safe Harvest.

• 8/31 - Northwest North Dakota: Early wheat yields were very good 35-50 bph. Later wheat was disappointing 25 bph range 57 lb tw. flax yields were the real eye opener with 30 bph straw and only running 12-15 bph. Heat in July just pushed the maturity to fast and dropped the flowers to fast.

• 8/30 - Southwest Illinois, St. Clair County: Corn harvest is just getting started good. We will see corn yields all over the place. Most of the mid April corn is coming out of the field in the 15-20% range. Yields have probably been a bit better than expected 180’s, 190’s on the limited acres we’ve harvested. Test weights on the low side, but still 56-58 and quality appears to be at least average. Those in the dry areas are reporting 100-150 on the early planted corn. The first planted corn will without a doubt be our best. I am still suspecting the May plantings to be in the 120-150 range and much worse in the dry areas.

  Beans were on the brink of disaster last week. A few received upwards of and inch of rain to rescue their crop while others received none which has severely cut yield prospects. Some areas have had no rain since the 3rd week of June. I think 1st crop beans will be in the 40’s in areas that have had rain and are on good soils down to the 20’s in those driest areas. Double crops will most likely be 10-20 bushel in many areas, if that good, and that potential is dwindling by the day.
  

• 8/30 - Northeast Iowa: We've had so much rain up here (17+ inches) in the last 25 days that the crop is starting to deteriorate. The roots are dying on the corn and the grain fill will suffer. Much corn is going to die when it's 1/2 to 2/3 milkline…and the stalks are going fast! We had 220+ yield potential and I think we'll see somewhere between 10-20% reduction the way it's going.

• 8/30 - Central Illinois, Piatt County: Everything looking unbelievable. In late June no rain, looking like 88 drought all over again. Then rains came just at pollination. Corn looks to average 200 bu/a. Some low acres, just by eye look 250, no not just outside rows either. Beans....well verdict still out. Looks like 40's would be safe bet though. I would doubt many 60's with lack of rain in Aug. Corn is looking like it is late Sept with ears dropping over and browning up. It seems we are in a preverbial "garden spot" this year. Corn has to go up with all the north, southcentral and southeastern regions burned up.

• 8/30 - St. Clair County, Southwestern Illinois: Another hot one today with the mercury reaching 98. Once again we are back in the middle to upper 90's for the past three days. We missed the scattered showers today, but that is the norm here. I shelled some corn to see what the moisture was and it was down to 16.5 on 112 day corn. The test weight was disappointing at 56 and half. The yield was 188 for the handful of acres I picked. The corn was planted in the middle of April and pollinated in the cooler weather. I knew the test weight would be poor due to the lack of rain for the past two months. The later corn, well, I don't have anything good to say about it. The beans need a big rain just to give us a respectable crop. I'm guessing the county average on beans will be around 40. I would estimate double crops at 10 and I may be over on that estimate.

• 8/29 - Central Arkansas: With the big July rains, we just finished our biggest corn crop ever. 207 Bu an acre. We typically avg., 185 Bu. It appears the state will produce a record corn crop this year. The only problem is that we don't have enough storage in the state for both rice and corn. The next 30 days are going to be interesting on trying to finish the harvest and finding a home for it.
  

• 8/29 - Western New York: I do realize we are a small fish in big ocean but we have had a dry summer and crops were barely holding on but looking good... think the last week things have started going backwards. No bumper yield here and beans will be less than originally thought in this area. Price of hay should be rising too!

• 8/29 - Eastern North Carolina, Wayne County: Completed yield assessments for my corn this week. Yields vary from 54 Bu/a to 135 Bu/a. Overall average projected to be 80 Bu/a with test weight at 55 lbs. Moisture is presently 21%. The drought has definitely taken it’s toll on the area crops. Neighbor is picking today with average yield of 30 Bu/a and test weights at 52 lbs. This seems to be the rule throughout eastern NC with few farms producing enough to break even this year. Prices continue to fall with local markets around $3.00 and expecting to go lower as harvest has just gotten underway. I will put mine in storage as soon as it dries enough for the bin. Hopefully the market will trend upward later. Equipment and fertilizer dealers are starting to sweat. With most of the reports on this forum reflecting lower than expected yields, I would have expected the market reports to pick up on some of this information but apparently there are some terrific yields out there somewhere. With average cost per acre greater than $350.00 in our area, only the brave at heart will be willing or able to do battle again next year. Insurance will help the worst case instances but a lot of yields will be just good enough for insurance to not pay but not good enough to break even. It appears that is where mine falls. Soybeans, based on plant size and blossom count has potential for 50 + Bu/a provided we get rain within the next week. Presently we are very dry and soybeans are under stress with no active weather patterns for our area in sight. It has been and continues to be a challenging year.

• 8/29 - Platte County, Nebraska: Been very fortunate with timely rains this summer. Early estimates for yields showing about 200+ on corn and 55 to 60 on the beans. Wishing everyone the best as I know there has been a lot of storm and drought damage. Expecting to be harvesting in about 10 days.

• 8/29 - Northeast Iowa, Fayette County: My son and I did the Pro Farmer method for yield check on some Pioneer 35Y67 last evening. It measured 227 bushels per acre but has some problems from a July storm that blew it over pretty good. We had Headline air applied and the field is very green yet with the milkline about half way down. A lot of corn has gone around the bend this last week, I think it's trying to get ripe and some just plain ran out of nitrogen with all the wet weather this year. Some trying to make silage and getting the wagons stuck, just still too wet. Still can't figure out the beans, some parts of fields going from green to dead brown and no leaves literally in ten days. I hope the fall is drier because this good corn is going to be a nightmare to harvest.

• 8/29 - Calumet/Manitowoc Counties, Wisconsin: Here we have had 6 in. of rain in the last week. Enough for now. Corn looks good right around here, but if you go sometimes 5 or maybe 10 miles it has been really dry all summer. Our corn and beans will do well. But there is some in the eastern part of the state that will not.

• 8/29 - Central Minnesota: Boy what a difference some rain makes. Three weeks ago, crops were severely damaged. Since then, about 3-4 inches of rain. Now the soybeans look darn good and the corn has filled much more than anyone would have thought. Short cobs, but they are fat. Monsanto's stress tolerance in their corn and soybeans is definitely second to none.
  

• 8/28 - Northwest North Dakota, Divide County: WOW!! Fields that looked great from the road and even walking through them sure change with a yield monitor. Spring wheat and durum that looks every bit of 50 bpa is only running about 25-30 for an average and test weights anywhere from 51-61 lbs with 58lbs about the average. Too many hot days 106 was our hottest when it was filling it just shut the plant down and it couldn't fill to potential. What a kick in the shorts, this was shaping up to be a turn around year here and lord know we needed a year like this one looked like it was going to be.

• 8/28 - Shelby County, Iowa: Beans look good. Have some early planted corn black layered about a week ago earliest ever for me. Corn yields look to be all over the place. Some looks very good some not so good.

• 8/27 - Southern Illinois: Harvested acres planted April 22nd. Good moisture going into July for pollination. Only 6/10 of rain since pollination, none in August. Yields in the 90-100 bushel range. Coming out of the field under 15%.
  

• 8/27 - Southwestern Illinois, St. Clair County: I am going to say this is the most fortunate year in my farming career. After 26 straight days of 90 plus degrees and seven of those days being over 100, we finally got rain on August 24. It was just over an inch and the biggest rain I have had since May 27. Some of the corn was broke off during the severe weather. Fifteen miles northeast of here 80 mile an hour winds flattened corn fields. The ONLY corn that will do well here is the corn planted in the middle of April. I saw an estimate of 178 bpa for Illinois. I would be shocked if the corn in Southern Illinois averages over 140 bpa. The beans are looking better and have perked up with the recent rain. The double crops, who knows. The area has been on the brink of disaster since the beginning of July and a small shower here and there has just kept us going. Combines will be rolling here in full force in the next seven days.

• 8/27 - South Central Minnesota: We have a mix of good and bad crops. Steele county is the only place that I have seen excellent crops in the state. I tour the state and found little good in most of the other areas of the state. I reside in Le Sueur county and we were hurting here for water and now even though we have enough it is too late for the corn. I would take right now 140 and 40 and be satisfied. Time will tell on this year.
  

• 8/27 - Northeast North Dakota: We were very disappointed with our spring wheat yield here in East Ramsey county and Nelson county. 25 -35 bu. A 60 mph storm at bloom and a week of 95 degree temp shortly thereafter, was probably the culprit. Our canola harvest also way down. We swathed 1800 lb canola, but the result was 900 to 1200 lbs. Again the heat and wind storm which literally blew the blossoms right off the plant. It re-bloomed and the heat took that, as canola prefers cool climates. Soys lookin' good, and the corn looks very very good. Good prices, but wow those expenses!

• 8/26 South Central Michigan: Last week four seed companies in our area had their test plots opened up for us farmers. Not one test plot tested over 75 bu/ac !! In fact, there were plots where the ears had no kernels !! Also, for the first time we saw ears that were bare at the tip and at the base attached to the stalk !!! Across the street from my field is the best dryland acreage for miles around, and the field tested out at 60 bu/ac whereas in a normal year it is 170+ bu/ac !! As for my field, it tested out at 55 bu/ac. It is interesting to note that most of my ears are five plus inches long, and that strangely correlates to the 55 bu/ac test count !! And all of the corn looks so good from the road after the seven inches of rain we received in five days. It does not make up at all for 90+ days without rain previously. My partner went to west/central TN and found many cornfields that had zero kernels in the ears - just like what was reported in eastern PA awhile back that forewarned us for a surprise this year. It is so obvious that last week's pro crop tour tested out the good areas and gave only lip service to the variability issue. Time for a reality check.

• 8/26 - Central Missouri: Corn was done a month ago and now the beans are done the growing season is over some 175bu corn and some 70bu corn some 10bu beans and some 20bu beans not so great here! Another year for the machinery dealers because machinery is getting older and more worn for nothing wish us all something and luck is not it!
  

• 8/26 - Northeast North Dakota: The first half of August was very frustrating, with damp, drizzle type of weather, but the last 10 days have been mostly very good combining days. The acres are now getting harvested at a record pace. Canola, barley, and wheat will about get finished this coming week. Pea yields were in the mid 50's, barley from 60 to 85, wheat is over 50, with some 60 plus fields. Dry beans and sunflowers still looking great.

• 8/26 - Steele County, Minnesota: We have had a excellent summer - sitting in a area with weekly rains, However last weekend proved challenging with over 10 inches of rain.I flew over the area and I was very surprised that after a week there was very little standing water. The crops look great! Sweet corn yields have been from the 8 to 10 ton yields, which are very high and I hope it is an indication for the other crops.

• 8/26 - Lafayette County, Wisconsin: Since August 3 we have had over 25 inches of rain in just 3 weeks, finally saw the sun yesterday.With the Pecatonica out of its banks, I'm afraid that soybeans will rot on low lying fields, otherwise after a dry July things look good.

• 8/25 - Southern Illinois: Too bad the Crop Tour doesn't venture south of I-70! They would get a much different picture of Illinois crops. There are areas of southeastern IL that have had less than 3-4" of rain since the first of MAY! Corn was done a month or two ago and beans look like short double crop, even though they were planted in May. There won't be much, if any, 178 bushel corn here, and 40 bushel beans will seem like a bin-buster. Thank God for crop insurance.

• 8/25 - Graves County, Kentucky: Here in western Graves county corn 150bpa on hill 200-220 bottom. Beans early group 2 40-45 group 4-5 beans will be much lower we are burnt up rain won't help. Double crop beans(planted after our froze out wheat) won't be worth cutting. Field fires everywhere we have had several hundred acres of corn burnt in the last week and if the fires ever get to the bean fields call in the air tankers. No pasture cattle on full Hay and don't have half enough of that. Hope we have a good insurance man.

• 8/24 - Dekalb/Daviees Counties, Missouri: 3" give or take here last night. Thought we were going to miss it all. Came home from Maryville, MO last night and drove through a downpour for 40 miles and then nothing. Hear it is flooding up there. This rain should make our crop whatever it turns out to be. Modern genetics has gotten us a crop this year. If this were the 80's we're done. A few combines rolling here but I think moisture is still mid-upper 20's.

• 8/24 - Renville County, Minnesota: After going the entire month of July with out a measurable rainfall just two words would describe central Renville County MN corn. They are “Highly Variable”. As Minnesota’s largest county corn production county we grow more corn than any county in MN… most years. I took yield checks from three fields. Corn yields in field one were 172, 181, 202, 71 yes just 71 b.p.a, and 187. Yields in field two were measured at 124, 157, 138, 113, and 187. The third field yields were most consistant at 140, 148, and 148.3 bushels per acre. Last year we had a lot of 195 to 215 bpa yields

• 8/24 - Northern Illinois, Lee County: Seven plus inches of rain since 8/18. Much flooding, up to two feet of water in some fields. Took the leaves off the SDS damaged beans, no pods on the stems. Corn has (had) good potential. Stalk quality is going to be a big issue this fall.

• 8/24 - Northeast Iowa, Fayette County: This is turning into a bad dream, so much rain that I quit looking at the gauge once it started to overflow. To the gentleman in Alabama that needs rain so badly, hang on, there's so much runoff here, it'll get to you soon. Soybean disease and SDS has literally exploded here and I can't imagine the nightmare that the storm damaged corn is going to be to pick. Good luck to all.

• 8/23 - Burrton, Kansas: It has been almost 3 weeks without rain, the dryland crops are hurting. Corn and Beans that are irrigated look real good. I am watching the radar, there is storms 60 miles west of here heading this way. Just hope that there won't be wind or hail or rain that won't stop! I'd rather have it like it is than too much rain like some parts of the country.
  

• 8/23 - Johnson County, Iowa: 6 Yield checks from our fields by Iowa City, Iowa: 157.44; 183.68; 209; 213; 209; and 213. We are in an area that received excellent rainfall and I really expected bigger and longer ears. I think the heat has sped this crop too fast to maturity. As a note the first two checks were on 104 day corn that hand shelled at 29% moisture. Our bean fields are covered with ADS, and with a full soil profile (moisture) I expect to see some white mold show up soon.

• 8/23 - Central Nebraska: Nice 2 inch plus rain in a half an hour with some hail and winds from 50 to 90 mph. Some flat corn, really took the shine off of a crop that looked too good. Get the corned reel out for another year! Beans lodged also.

• 8/23 - Platteville, Wisconsin: Well the "garden spot" has pushed the limit for rain. We are over the threshold for what we needed for moisture and now are on a course for watch and be vigilant. Beans already heavy with pods, are leaning down and some of the pods that are in contact with the ground or even other plants are actually germinating and sprouting from the pod. Wait and see on them if they stand back up. Corn is holding its own. There is some mold starting to grow on the very lower part of the stalk and very little on the ear. Tip fill was excellent and some of the early maturing numbers (100 d) are well dented and are at half milk line. Rain, Rain, Go Away..........
  

• 8/22 - North Central Iowa: A lot of wind and rain this past week. Since middle of last week to today we have received 11.6 in. of rain. Been lucky so far a lot of corn blown down around us but not any personally. Corn in the area should average 185 to 210. Beans should be average with lower pod counts than last years good numbers. Sudden death showing up everywhere.

• 8/22 - St. Mary's County, Maryland: Started corn harvest and getting only 36 bushels to the acre at 22% moisture.

• 8/22 - West Texas: 102 degrees the last two days. Corn is in dent stage most of irrigated is o.k. No rain in 30 days.

• 8/22 - Bond County, Illinois: Fired up the combine two days ago. Middle of April planted corn was running 15-19%. Corn was beginning to go down and completely down in some spots. Stalks are very brittle and if you look at the corn too hard it will fall over. Yields somewhere around 100bu/ac. From the looks of the corn it could be a lot worse.
  

• 8/21 - East Central Iowa, Benton County: This is one of the garden spots everyone is talking about, corn yield checks 240 to 270 in non wind damaged fields, corn on corn checks anywhere from 195 to 240. There are a lot of fields to the north of here that got hit by a major wind in late July that are flat and will yield in the 140's. I hope this hot weather hasn't hurt test weight too much. Beans are chest high and look great from the road, however when walking out into them the pod counts are looking very low. Sudden death is all over in most every field and that will take a hit on the yields also. I would have to say beans will yield in the 40's where last year we were in the upper 60's and 70's. The guys with corn on corn in this area are looking like they made the right choice this year!

• 8/21 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: 2"+ have fallen in the past 24 hours. That with 1.5" last week will help our soybeans. Our corn is made (or not). Trip to the field last week revealed corn looking OK? Ears filled out to the tip, 14-16 around and 32-36 long. Kernels are not as deep as we'd like to see. We're thankful for what we have.

• 8/21 - Northeast Iowa: Everything looks great here in northeast Iowa. We averaged last year 200 bu. corn per acre and this crop is better, we will see some corn in the 250's. Beans are also looking great possible 70 bu.per acre.

• 8/21 - Ohio: 8 to 9 inches of rain have fallen in 24 hrs. Wish we had gotten some of this in June and July. Beans are floating and flood water over the ears of corn. Many towns flooded and some interstate routes diverted traffic around the flood waters.

• 8/21 - Central Indiana, Clinton County: We’ve been on the edge of the garden spot all year. “Just in time, just enough” rains have the crops looking good. Don’t have to go too far east before it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t in time. Overall, Indiana yields are a puzzle to me. Some very good crops in the high yielding WC and NW districts but definitely below trend if you get very far away from those districts. On corn, it will take the good areas being very good and the bad areas not as bad as they seem to hit USDA’s 157 for the state. All but the earliest maturity beans will benefit from yesterday’s good rains north of Indianapolis.

• 8/20 - Platteville, Wisconsin: We are definitely in the garden spot of the country. The weather has cooperated all the way up until now. If the rain shut down now and the sun peeks out for about 2 more weeks we will be hearing of record yields for both corn and beans in this area of Southwest WI. If the rain persists and we continue with high humidity and dew points, the thinking is of white mold in beans and fungus in the corn.

• 8/20 - East Central Kansas, Lyon County: We received .20 inches rain in five minutes, Saturday, August 18th. First rain we received since August 3rd, when we received 2.40 inches. Previous rain before that was 5.5 inches before the 4th of July. That rain gave us the best potential ever for pollination of the corn, two to three ears per stalk. However the 2.40 came two weeks late and only one or two ears amounted too much. Then w got only .20 to help fill out the kernels. Most of second ear is only filled about 3/4 of the ear. The good ear will have 16 rows and 40 small kernels per row. Don’t have any idea what it might yield. Corn population count is 24,000 per acre. Our average yields her are 86 bu per acre and best corn ever was 152 bu. Per acre. Anybody have any ideas on potential yield? Rain has just come too late. Corn is fired up to bottom ear.

• 8/20 - Southeast Kansas: No whopping rains from Erin here!! I know that OK and SW Missouri was getting hit this morning from the rains, but my gauge had 2 tenths. We needed an inch to two to help out our beans. I have beans that are now starting to yellow and brown out on thin areas in the field. Really thin soils are gone and the rest of the field now wilting during the day and not recovering much over night. Temps are suppose to be lower 90's which is 10 degrees lower than the last few but with little rain prospects insight can pretty much erase much of a bean yield from this part of the state.

• 8/20 - Northeast Iowa, Winneshiek County: 5 inches of rain here over the weekend, falling on already saturated ground. That makes 10 inches so far in August. White mold and SDS showing up in the beans, corn showing signs of being deficient of N in places. We're seeing a lot more fungal diseases in corn than in any other year I can remember. Ear counts are good but most are tipped back an inch or so. Corn is just starting to dent. We'll be chopping corn silage in a couple weeks, but I'm not sure we'll be able to get into the fields with all this moisture.

• 8/20 - Steele County, Minnesota: After checking crops on Saturday corn is starting get blight. Checking yield checks on corn really do not know how it made such a crop that is there I will be very happy when I start picking. We have had just enough rain here to keep the crop growing Beans are great now Heavy on pods the vines are like trees really thick. We had HEAVY rain all week end depends on where you are in the county 5.5 to 9".Was very surprised on how much of the rain went down into the soil didn't run off much as would you think. Southeastern Minnesota is a MESS. We have enough rain now for the season, we should have great harvest.

• 8/20 - Northwest Iowa, Obrien County: We should have a decent corn crop the beans should be real good with this rain we have had over the weekend. 2.5 in. in 3 showers. The alfalfa is the biggest beneficiary of the rain As now we will get a 4th cutting.

• 8/19 - Southeast Buenos Aires, Argentina: Coming out of our coldest winter in a long time; wheat crop is delayed but OK, but will need good rains in the next 30 days to maintain yield potential.

• 8/18 - South Central Minnesota: Sudden Death starting to show up in the beans here. So far its just small patches in the fields. Hope it doesn't spread with the wet weather thats predicted. We should have a good corn crop here, although I question what the test weights will be. The heat is pushing it to maturity too fast. The ear counts are there we just need to put on some weight.

• 8/18 - Clark County Illinois: We should have a decent corn crop but our beans haven't had but .2 inch rain in August. They are wilting during the day in the extreme hot weather. They need a good soaking bad. Just to the north of us in Edgar County they had anywhere from 1-3 inches second week of August. And south of here they hardly have had any rain in July and August by the way their crops look. I'm thankful for the 4 inches rain we got in July. It could be worst.

• 8/17 - Southeast Indiana: We also started out with great planting weather but have only had .7" rain since July 19th. We wonder where the "big crop is coming from-certainly not here. Corn is drooping ears & beans are wilting down from 16 days of 90+ degree weather. Thankfully we had cooler weather in July for pollination but corn grains will be very small from the dry weather. The July 4th rain of 1.25" is what saved us until August dry weather hit.

• 8/17 - South Central Indiana Can't figure out what the USDA is talking about a good crop! They must not be traveling around here. Corn looked good early, but with little rain in the last month it is deteriorating fast. We might have 120 bpa and the beans do not look either when the past 14 days have exceeded 93 degrees plus. I hope someone would tell them to stay off off I-70 and look south. Just because the radar shows green doesn't mean it is raining!

• 8/17 - Southeast Minnesota: We will see for most of this area above average yields for both corn and soybeans. Some will see much above, yield checks are coming up with 300 bus. per acre.

• 8/17 - St. Clair County, Illinois: Hot and dry! Wednesday saw us reach 105 degrees. It was so hot here the ducks were having ice hauled in for the local ponds. I've been hauling water into my dried up well since July 9. I received another tenth of rain on Monday morning bringing the total for August to two tenths. The scary part is that is more than most. Everyday this month the temperature has been 90 plus with at least five to six days above 100 plus. I haven't had a rain event of over an inch since May 27. The heatwave and the drought has moved the corn crop along quickly and I saw the first combine in the field today. That is three to four weeks earlier than normal. The cracks in the fields get larger each day. Some of my corn is already down to 22 moisture. I think the combine will be out much sooner than I thought. The bright side to all of this is I shouldn't have to use the LP at 1.60 a gallon. I believe the best corn in the area will be 160 bpa. The later corn will be around 120-140 at the absolute best. I may be too high on that prediction. The beans in this area were the best I had ever seen one month ago. I believe now that somewhere in the middle 30's will be the county average. Double crops will be 10 bpa at the very best. I feel for the guys that double cropped corn. I would say 20-40 bpa if they are very lucky. Did anyone book their anhydrous yet? $610 a ton here. I don't think we will see 92 million acres next year. I guess the only bright side to the drought is the wife doesn't complain about the grass getting cut. Thank you to the man upstairs for a very wet May. If we had been dry this spring we would have nothing to harvest. Weed control this season has been an absolute joke. I guess hurricane Dean will bring us five to ten inches of rain next week. It would cap off one of the weirdest seasons I have ever seen.

• 8/16 - Southeast Iowa, Jefferson County: SDS coming on strong in many soybean fields over a large area. Many fields of corn running low on nitrogen, yellowing on lower leaves to ear, some low areas in fields and hillsides yellow to tassel. With lack of rain,to much rain, hail and wind in many areas I can't see the yield they are projecting!

• 8/16 - South Central North Dakota: This is going to be the best corn and bean crop ever in ND. Lots of 170 plus corn and the beans are up to the shirt pocket and loaded with beans. This is the first year with lots of 90 + day corn and it looks like it will really pay off with all the moisture and heat this year.

• 8/16 - Central Alabama: This is the 7th consecutive day of 100+ temps and with no respectable amount of rain in the forecast. There have been a few good rains in the past 2 weeks, but now there is no relief insight. We are nearing -20 inches of rain again and if the good fellow from "Northeast Iowa, Fayette County" could lend us some of his "rain share"...it would greatly be appreciated!!! I have a new product line...its called "Pop Corn on a Cob," and its coming to a "Wally World" near you. We have tons of it and its getting mowed down fast. Get it while its hot...cause its getting hotter. Sweet Home has turned into "Sweat Home Alabama." Can someone please, hit that AC button!
  

• 8/16 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: Received our 1st true "T" storm for the summer last night. Some spots had hail. It was enjoyable to just sit on the porch at midnight and watch it rain. We received 1.1"-1.5". Farmers get their kicks from strange things. This will be a great help for the soybeans. Our corn is in early dent stage probably won't help much, maybe a little test weight. We were grateful for the rain.

• 8/16 - Northeast Iowa, Fayette County: About 3/4 inch rain yesterday. A shower around Labor Day would be nice but but I'll send my share to the south. The markets today would classify as Black Thursday. As long as supply and demand has nothing to do with the markets, I hope we all have monster crops.
  

• 8/16 - Southwest Illinois, St. Clair County: Early Monday morning I was blasted out of bed by strong winds and lots of thunder and lightening. We wound up with 2 inches of thunder and lightening and .1” of rain. Needless to say our crops have been hurting badly. 105 yesterday for the second record setting high temp in a row. Predictions are one more day of 100 then a cool front will blow in and temps will fall back into the low 90’s. That will feel like fall. We will wind up with about 17 consecutive days above 90 and 12 of those will have been 95 plus. May planted corn will see significant yield losses. I suspect in many cases it will be 50 bushels less than the mid April planted corn. I am thinking because of this our county average will be below my last prediction of the 140’s. I suspect we will see a county average in the 130’s. I also suspect we will see disastrous test weights in the driest areas and probably some aflatoxin thrown in for added fun.

  Beans had tons of potential on August 1. I would have said we were on target for well over 50 bushels per acre. If we get rain this weekend of an inch or more I think we will still have beans in the 40’s. If we go another week without rain I think we will see potential fall below 40 in many cases. Double crops are almost a joke. Even with rain this weekend I think potential is sub 30.
  

• 8/16 - Chandler Minnesota: I had the crop adjuster out last week. My proven yield on my ground is from 140 bu. to 160 bu. on corn. On 125 acres the corn averaged 1 bu. an acre. On 150 acres it yielded 50 bu and 70 acres it yielded 70 bu.

• 8/15 - Southeast Nebraska, Lancaster County: We have received some very welcome rains in the last 10 days. Corn is all dented and stalks starting to die. Beans look great should be above average crop with yields 50-60 bushel/acre. Corn should be average 125-150/acre. Last Thursday and Friday drove to central and North central Nebraska Corn and beans look tremendous all the way you can't tell where pivot corners start looks just like the irrigated circles. A lot of beans never saw irrigation, their (the irrigators) biggest problem is finding a place to put all the fuel they have contracted for irrigation. Nebraska will have top yields for both corn and beans. I have talked to a few farmers from the panhandle and they are extremely dry with no precip from may to present really bad conditions out west.

• 8/15 - East Central Iowa, Scott County: Crop really looks good. Moisture is definitely not going to be the yield restrictor, if there is one. Beans look excellent, however everyone has had to spray for aphids. Also noticing some SDS in the area, including one of my fields. Hopes are high but never know with beans. My best bean yields came 2 years ago with the drought. They don't like wet feet! The corn looks as good as ever. Walked most of my fields this week. 80% are corn on corn and not one should be under 200bu/ac. I read a lot of negative on here and it's easy to write in when things are bad, but I thought I should write in just to let you know, the crop really IS that good in this area. I'm not taking this crop for granted after reading the comments on here and thank God for His blessings of rain this year.
  

• 8/15 - Southeast South Dakota: 41 days without rain, not a drop in July. Corn on corn acres will be appraised and cut for silage. My best guess is 25 - 50 bushel. 1st year corn looks fair 80 -125. Soybeans still have a chance. Sprayed 2nd shot of round up and warrior this week. Best guess is 40-45 bushel. Second year of failed corn on corn with rotated corn yields being average. Thank god for huge crop insurance guarantees this spring. We received 2 inches of rain about two weeks ago. If we would have missed it every acre of corn would be cut and in a pile by now.

• 8/15 - South Central Indiana. Crop adjusters put yields on corn fields going to silage at 26 to 60 bu/acre. These are the worst fields of course. But the reports have started a lot of field walking. Most stalks do have ears but the ears are small at 14-16 rows with a lot of tip back and a lot of aborted kernels. Most of the corn is denting. The Pro Farmer Tour will be very important this year to try to balance the good with the bad. My gut feel is this crop will get smaller as time goes on. These fields are in a section of the state that was rated at 136 bushel by USDA in August. No doubt that is high.
  

• 8/15 - Steele County, Minnesota: Had rain this morning just keeping the soybeans growing. Soybeans are still flowering and shooting pods. Corn is mostly dented 2.5 weeks early looks like the dryer will not be working to hard since LP gas is about $1.59 a gallon. Did some checks over the weekend looked good on the heavy ground but on high ground pollinating was hurt because of the high heat during this time. Corn will not be as good as last year soybeans are being made now will know more in couple weeks. The white combine hit the southern half of county it took many acres with it. USDA is estimating to big yield for what is out their yes their was more acres planted but from what I have been seeing In Minnesota it will a average year down from last year. Corn is done the yield is what it will be, soybeans to early to tell

• 8/15 - Giles County, Tennessee: Been a while since I have posted [ computer problems]. Corn finished poorly but but we still see a 125-135 whole farm average. First planted beans should make 40, later should probably be cut for hay. Cotton crop was 1000# plus is now 800 maybe. Traveled to Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, St. Louis crossed the river at Paducah 2 times. With the exception of a little ground where we crossed the Illinois River I did not see a field of corn or beans in IL that looked like it could not produce at least trend line yields plus! A huge percentage looked like it was cloned or worked by one farmer. The look of a big crop.

• 8/14 - East Central Missouri: 60 mph. winds with 1/10th of an inch of rain put severely drought stressed plants to within 2 feet of the ground. There is hundreds of acres in our area like this. Everyone is looking for corn reels. No green snap to speak of, just broke over. One of your contributors talked about a disappointing yield of 175 to 185 bpa. I find it hard to sympathize with him. We consider that a once in a lifetime yield. Beans are suffering terribly. Looks like you could burn them during the daytime. Look better before dark. One farmer here always double crops corn after wheat. I went by it today. It is knee high and rolled up like a pineapple. Double crop beans may be better that first crop if the rains ever come.

• 8/14 - Central Indiana: 70 miles due north of Indianapolis. Stick a fork in my corn... its done. Dent stage now. Rain wont help the corn now. Beans are a different story. I'm seeing spider mites set in the beans. Corn is mostly 40 long by 16 around. But in some spots the last 2 inches to the tip didn't make it. I have to wonder how good this $170/bag corn will be.

• 8/14 - South Central Minnesota: USDA is wrong on Minnesota improvement. We have missed too many rains and over the weekend I thought our crops looked worse each day. Soybeans are shrinking and corn rootworm is tipping over refuge corn, If we have high winds our corn is going horizontal. Hoping for 150 bpa on our best ground, corn/corn will be 20-25% less and 45 bpa beans, lighter ground is obliviously worse. It has been depressing watching a perfect crop go away throughout this summer

• 8/14 - Northeast Iowa: Crops look good from the road overall, but go for a walk in the corn and see the heat and dryness to it's toll. Corn is tipped back as much as 2 inches. Mid July when we finally received rain, I paid the price with hail at 2 am and again at 7 am. At least it's still standing, I see a lot of down corn all the way to east central Iowa.

• 8/14 - Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: Many of us in Lancaster County experienced a good growing season. See comments from another grower in this area 8/9/2007. But as some of us learned this weekend there is a BIG surprise far inside our fields. 150 feet or more in the corn has a lot of ears with only 15 to 25 kernels per ear. Big sections of fields with ears that look like 16-18 row cobs and long enough to have 40 kernels per row at 30,000 plants per acre have nothing. I saw this personally in my own fields but on a 1:15 to 25 ears as I walked. Talked to 3 other growers over a 25 mile range and everyone who walked big time this past weekend found the same thing. The corn is within a week of black layer on may ears and with the heat we are having this crop seems like it will finish fast. Stalks are green and healthy looking from top to bottom, no firing what so ever and husk is still green and tight, but the ear is nearly finished and like I said, it seems like too many ears with only 15 - 25 kernels. Stay tuned.

• 8/13 - Obion County, West Tennessee: How could the USDA numbers remain with the same total condition for good and excellent as that of the past week given the extreme heat and the lack of moisture for so much of the Midwest? Very little rain here in weeks with good soils capable of high production if the weather cooperates. It has not for this summer so far. I have not seen any rain in the past week shown for all of the lower Midwest and some other areas as well. How reliable can this data be?

• 8/13 - West Tennessee: HOT and DRY! can't remember the last time we saw water run. Pasture's are gone, ponds all but dry, low 100's everyday. Three weeks ago est. cotton at 12-1400pds now maybe 600. Early beans(with no more water) maybe15-18 bpa. Wheat bean's at first bloom and dying. Will start shelling corn tomorrow hoping 120-140bpa and very thankful it could be all we have. I have never seen it this bad. I guess it was our turn. We have had 16in of rain since Jan 1, 18in below normal. I hate to wish time away but I'm ready for 08!

• 8/13 - North Central Lee County, Illinois: Corn crop is looking very good. Beans are showing a lot of SDS in the last week. Aphid numbers are high in some fields, some in R5 stage, are too far along to spray. Also sprayed one field for Japanese beetles. Bean yields could be all over the place.

• 8/13 - West Central Illinois: Still no rain in our part of the world. Corn is finished and dead, soybeans not far behind. Glad to hear about some of you getting timely rains. I have not traveled far from the farm much this summer, but I think the USDA numbers have to be too high. There is a large area in the same shape as us.

• 8/13 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: Neighbor and I went on a scouting trip in some of our fields Sunday eve. Corn was surprising in as much of it is filled to the tip with an aborted kernel here and there. Ears are small. 14-16 around and 32-36 long. Several verities have one ear like that with a smaller one too. Soybeans look good. We are aphides but not bad. The most damage in the soybeans is from Japanese Beetles, and that's spotty. We need rain NOW! For the soybeans to fill the pods they have and finish. Looks (today) like we'll have a couple of shots at some rain this week.

• 8/13 - Southwest Illinois: Waiting any day for the arrival of camels, coral snakes and cactus as I believe we are now in a desert. With the exception of a few hit or miss showers much of the county has been without rain for 3 weeks plus we are heading into our 3rd consecutive week with temps over 90(with at least 6 of those 100 or more). I think we were of the opinion that this kind of weather could not hurt our corn. I’m thinking we were wrong. The mid April corn will probably be affected the least, but I still think it will be hurt by lower test weights and shallow kernel fill. If we lose 3lbs of test weight it takes a 170 bushel yield to 160. The late April/early May corn will be hurt more. The Mid May corn is showing extensive tip back and while at one time I thought it to have maybe the best potential, but now it will easily be the worst. I’m going to say we will have a county average in the 140’s. We will see some 100 bushel corn and some approach 200, but I have seen a lot that will be 130-150. The bean crop is on the brink of a disaster. If we go the rest of August hot and dry I think we will see a lot of 1st crop beans in the 30-40 bushel range with double crops 10-20 at best. We need rain no for beans. I suspect we are losing close to a bushel per day this week.
  

• 8/12 - Shelby Co., Iowa: 2 inches Sunday eve. Will finish early corn nicely. Beans look very good know. Some later planted corn is tiped back; a lot was hurt with heat and dry weather. Guess timing is everything.

• 8/11 - Southwest Minnesota: After extensive walking of fields this weekend, I'd say that overall, beans are slightly above average and the corn slightly below to below average. We were on and off for rainfall all season. A lot of beans look very good but then there are a number of fields that will not close their 30" rows. Most all beans in the immediate area were sprayed for aphids. Then the spider mites made progress into a number of fields. Now, SDS is showing up in a lot of places. We first saw SDS last year. On the corn side, a number of fields have a light green/yellow tinge to them from lack of nitrogen. Some of the very heavy black soils showed considerable drought symptoms. Those fields were saturated by early rainfall and then when the rains suddenly stopped, the roots were all at the surface and could not access the moisture below. Some of the last planted corn looks much better than the early planted corn. Many ears have 1-2" tippped back on the cobs with aborted kernels. With all the heat we are having, it is uncertain if the kernels will fill completely and have good test weight. On the triple stacked corn, the rootworm beetles still got the rootworm resistant silks!! And then, there are a lot of aphids in the corn sucking away on the entire plant - they're not fussy if it's BT or not. I suppose down the road, for an additional $15 per acre, we can get resistance to each of those critters too.
  
  
• 8/11 - Story Co., central Iowa: In May we had 8 plus inches of rain. Since a lot of the land is flat, the low spots in the corn got drowned out. A lot of the beans went in late. Since then we have had almost ideal weather. However, when the corn tassled you could see how uneven the stands were. Some of corn is normal height, some is tassled 4 ft. high. It is hard to tell how much yeild loss there is from the road, but if someone told me we lost 20-40 bu. per acre, I would believe them. The beans look a week to two weeks behind, but almost all the fields look great.
  
  
• 8/11 - DeKalb/Daviess Cos., NW Missouri: Rain has again been very spotty and we were fortunate with 2.5 inches. Lowest high temp in August so far is 94. Have had 5 days of 100+ so far this month. Absolutely can't believe that the corn looks like it does although I haven't been very far out into the fields because I'd probably dehydrate before I got back out. Beans are short but trying very hard. Corn has quit rolling in the afternoons and beans haven't turned over yet. Conditions vary widely though depending on who has had rain and who hasn't.

• 8/10 - Lee Co., Northern Illinois: The crops look the best they have in years in this area. The weather has been almost ideal. The rains have developed just at the right time for both corn and soybeans. The beans still need a wetter than normal August to yield really well. I hope the ethanol market can absorb all of this production.
  
  

• 8/10 - West Central Iowa: Real close to locking up total bean production for 2008 100% beans 0% corn let Monsanto and the nitrogen companies eat there products.
  

• 8/10 - Southwest Minnesota: After the recent rains, the soybeans are really putting on lots of pods. Corn plants are doing the best they can to fill kernels of a drought burdened plant. I believe the Pro Farmer Crop Tour is going to confirm the USDA's numbers. They will find excellent corn throughout there trip, with the exception of southwest Minnesota. I am most interested in the pod count numbers they find.

• 8/10 - East Central Illinois: Hot and dry. Beans wilting on light soil with flat pods turning a yellow tint, on good soils beans are still holding on for awhile. No subsoil moisture to fall back on. Corn is starting to turn. Yield checks show a disappointing 175 to 185 bu/a on corn with only 16 rows around and 38 to 40 kernels long. Need a rain bad to save the soybean crop. They are chest high but not podded very well.

• 8/10 - Central Indiana, Hancock County: Still keep missing all the rain! Since May 1 I have had a total rainfall of 5.5". Surprisingly the corn is not looking all that bad. The situation for the soybeans however is far worse. Only .9' of rain in the last 6 weeks has been absolutely brutal. The spider mites are spreading fast, but they won't affect the clay hills, as those beans are already dying. The weatherman is saying the next chance of rain is 8-13. Should I clean the cobwebs out of the rain gauge, or not?
  

• 8/09 - Northwest Missouri, Nodaway County: finally got some rain .....8 inches in 24 hours along with strong winds....lots of corn flat.....flooding,hot and dry,wind storm what a growing season!!!! rain will help the beans a bunch as well as the late corn......have a safe harvest..

• 8/09 - Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: This has been a superb growing season here in our part of the county .We just had two inches of rain this eve. which should finish the corn crop. Fourth cutting alfalfa was fantastic. Almost hard to believe how different the situation is a mere 75 miles to the west in central PA and MD .We are thankful for the Lords providing and truly pray for those less fortunate that God will provide the needed resources.

• 8/09 - Lafayette County, Wisconsin: After a dry July (5 tenths of rain after July 3rd) we had 6 and a half inches on August 4th followed by 4 and a half August 6th. Wheat is all harvested. Probably too late to help corn but soybeans can be saved and 3rd and 4th cuttings of hay are looking good.

• 8/09 - Central Iowa: Ears are short and so are the beans. Lightning, radar, lightning, and all we got was .13”, coming off an extremely dry 30 days and heading into what everyone is talking about the hottest couple of weeks of the season. If you go to the Iowa Text Product Page, drill into Illinois, and under the evaporation rate for the day, we were just short, as it was .14” 8/9/2007. CJC Commodities released it’s estimate, highlighted by a 138.9 corn and 38.1 bean yield, coming in at 10.9 billion and 2.3 billion. Have sprayed all the beans and hay ground, trying to salvage what we can.
  

• 8/09 - Monroe County, Iowa: Well...after my whining about being dry...the sky opened up in the last 2 days and has dumped over 4 inches of rain! There has not been a bit of run off as the ground has taken it all in. Came just a couple of weeks too late for the corn but it will be great for the beans and hopefully they start growing again! We have not sprayed for aphids yet but almost everyone around us has. The agronomist came out to scout our field and was amazed that we really didn't need to spray...yet! We are looking at 130 on corn and somewhere around 40 on beans. So pretty average for us with the beans maybe running a little better than average with this big rain. Forecast is calling for mid 90's with dewpoints in the upper 70's! It will be unbearable here by about 11 am each day!

• 8/09 - Southwest Iowa: What a change a week makes. Rain can fall now almost without a cloud in the sky. Corn has breathed a sigh of relief and now can handle the heat that is in the forecast. Beans are putting on pods and have renewed their color. It seems to rain at the last minute. We were there.

• 8/09 - Southwest Ohio, Montgomery County: Missed the recent rains so far, hoping for relief this pm. Scouted a couple bean fields today, we've had a little more rain than our neighbors but was surprised at the low pod counts. Only found one pod on a plant lower than 7" from the base. Many have no pods on first 10 inches. 22-25 pods on average but they are still flowering. Plants only 30" tall in both medium and full season varieties. The just in time rains have kept the crop alive but it will take some significant rain in the next three weeks to get a normal yield. Corn looks better and has begun to dent. It definitely benefited from the timely rains in early July but the ear size deteriorates half a mile north where they missed those showers. Some spider mites and aphids in the area but have not seen anyone spraying for them yet.

• 8/09 - Northeast North Dakota: The past 10 days have been a mixed bag of 'nice' with spotty showers, and just damp weather. Many have gotten in a few hours of combining, then another rain shower. We have had barley swathed for 9 days. I hope it wasn't sprouted too much yet. Winter wheat yields in the area range from high 70's to mid 50's. Combines sitting in fields all around waiting for some good dry days.

• 8/08 - Mascoutah, Illinois St. Clair County: Hot! Hot! Hot! Did I mention it was hot here? Triple digits are the rule here with no relief in sight for the next seven days or so. However we did catch a pulse shower for one tenth of rain on August 4. The earlier you planted your corn here the better off you are. Harvest is going to be its earliest here as far back as I can remember. Corn on light soils and hills is burnt all the way to the top. My biggest fear right now is a severe storm coming through here and wiping out everything before harvest starts. The stalks are so brittle. I agree with my fellow contributor about the corn yields being average at best. I feel bad for the guys who double cropped corn because the end result will be 40 bpa or less. Our double crop beans could end up being zero if we do not see any rain soon. Our bean crop looked as good as ever until this heat moved in. The beans are rolled up and wilting and another week like this will result in 20-25 bpa. Our beans have been averaging sixty. Next years planting intentions will be very interesting with the price of fertilizer. My guess for Friday's USDA report is corn at 147-148 bpa and beans at 40.8 bpa. This is starting to look like 2006 all over again when August brought trendline yields down.

• 8/08 - Northeast Nebraska, Cuming County: I am showing 2.7 inches of rain in my gauge as I type this from today. Had .30 a couple days ago. Just fantastic!! Surely will finish off the corn and beans. Ears I have pulled are long and filled. Prays now that no severe insect infestations or hail or any of our other enemy's poke their nose up. Heat is predicted to finish off the week. At least now we can go into it with moisture. Sure makes a guy smile again. Now GO PRICES GO!! Good luck everyone at harvest time.
  

• 8/08 - Yuma County, Colorado: Send us some cool weather and some more bins. Yuma and Washington County are shaping up for a banner year in corn. Most dryland corn I have ever seen here. Looks terrific. With over two inches of rain in past week the crop should almost be made. Irrigated corn should all do 225/bu./ac. or more. The wheat crop was excellent and now the corn. Should bode well for Deere and Ford. Bring on the new pickups. Feel really bad for you folks in Michigan and Minnesota, hopefully we will have good prices next year.

• 8/08 - East Central Missouri: This area is very dry. Corn crop will be about eighty percent of normal. [Normal=160 bu per acre] The last time we had an inch of rain was May 27. We have received only a few tenths since then. Soybeans are deteriorating by the day. This is the third day of 100 degree temps. If we stay dry through the 15 of August with temps that are forecast for this area we will be lucky to average 20 bu per acre. Thank God I bought 80% RA Crop Insurance on soybeans.

• 8/08 - St. Marys County, Maryland: Dry, Dry, Dry. One inch of rain since May. Yield check on corn is 40 bushels to the acre according to the insurance adjuster. Soybeans that do have pods only have 10 pods. Double crop soybeans did not have enough moisture to germinate. There will be no storage problems in this area.

• 8/08 - Southeast Iowa: Crops look great here, but sudden death in beans as bad as I've ever seen and getting worse. If this continues, it will be an average or below bean crop.

• 8/08 - Southeast Minnesota: I had a hard time understanding how the crop conditions rating for MN had slipped as far as it did. I have heard the news reports about how dry it has been, but in our little corner of the state we have a tremendous crop out there and with the rain we picked up this weekend it will be one of our best. After driving west though I realize how fortunate we have been to be picking up the rains we have. We are only 45 miles away from where the crop starts to go down hill fast. The corn from Mankato to Redwood Falls looks like it is early Sept instead of August. It is fired up to the ear and there are portions of fields that have wilted down to nothing. As for our crop, with the rain we had this last weekend, our corn crop should have enough moisture to take it through maturity and our bean crop will hopefully add some bushels. We will keep praying for rain for the rest of you that desperately need it and count our blessings for what we have.
  

• 8/08 - Northwest Illinois, Carroll County: Crops look good in our area. Corn has potential to be better than last year. Only concern is the population we lost in the spring due to cool/wet soil during planting. Beans looked great, but white mold and aphids have moved in. We were lucky enough to get rain we needed, hopefully those dry areas around the country catch some showers soon. The cattle yards are impossible to keep clean with the showers and high humidity.

• 8/08 - Trip report: After lots of scouting in Ohio we left for a trip to Iowa. The crop improves until you get to Des Moines or so then starts going back to something we have. Only mud we saw was eastern Iowa. Counted lots of 200 bu yields in Illinois and Iowa. Tons of beetles mainly WCRW and tons of aphids. Lots of fungicide was used. My question is how or how long is it going to take to harvest, move and market 93 million acres of corn this fall? We are not equipped for it.

• 8/08 - Southwest Minnesota: Went to Farmfest today. In all the years of traveling to the event, I have never seen the corn look so poor. Some of the best soils in Minnesota have corn that is burned all the way up near the top. I saw some who had already chopped silage, which is a good month ahead of normal and there is very little green on the plant. We received a 1.5" rain last week and it looks like it has helped stabilize the crop some. My soybeans started out the best I had ever seen, but the fields are very uneven now with some spots half dried up. The corn pollinated nicely, the ears look like they are filling well, we may still have a fair crop if we receive more rain. Some corn on the lighter soils are burned all the way to the top. It appears insurance claims are going to be quite widespread in Minnesota this year.

• 8/07 - Northeast Colorado: We are wet finally got a good rain week around here dumped 5.5" out of my gauge that is unreal for this desert some spots got lots of hail 6" deep on ground. Very little planted here no we are behind. Wheat off to a great start.

• 8/07 - South Central Illinois: 101 degrees 20mph wind is taking a real toll on everything. Two weeks ago I thought we would average, 10% above average on corn. But after this extreme heat, and no rain we'll probably be 10-20% below average. Drove south about 50 miles, and things are the same if not worst. Beans had a lot of potential, but there going downhill fast,no rain in the forecast, only upper 90's low 100's.

• 8/07 - Michigan's thumb: We have been very dry and our rains have been in very narrow bands. Wide spread rain today has helped but some areas only received a half inch (we are probably 4-6 inches behind). It was welcome and will help. We don’t anticipate even average yields to fall crops, it’s been just too dry. Timely rains now will help fill pods and increase kernel size but many flowers have already aborted and corn has pollinated.

• 8/07 - Central Minnesota: This area of the state is a complete disaster. No one really wants to admit how dry it actually is. Most corn is at best going to yield 25 bushel or less with very poor grain quality. The irrigated ground looks good, but the expenses of getting these yields is ridiculously high. The beans held on as long as they could but now are dying. No alfalfa regrowth. Two inches of rain right now would put on maybe 5 bushels of corn and would help the soybeans achieve 20 bushel.

• 8/07 - Southwest Illinois, St. Clair County: Hot and dry weather has been followed by dry and hot weather with the forecast calling for more of the same. I checked the 10 day forecast for my city and there is nothing above a 20% chance of rain for the next 10 days with temps pushing 100. I thought we could handle last week without much loss on beans, I think if the heat and dry continues this week we will lose 20% of our yield potential. If that continues another week I think bean yields will be cut in half of their potential, which is a shame because I think overall our bean crop was in excellent shape though July. Double crops are really showing signs of stress. The early corn is for the most part made, but I’m sure this weather will cost us in test weight and plant health. The plants are in death mode right now. I think yields on the early corn will still be above average on the better soils, but the later planted corn and the corn on lighter soils will be hurt. I would peg us at a county yield of average. A few fertilizer prices are out and the numbers are so astronomical that I think we will see record wheat acreage planted this fall. With corn acreage up in 07 if we see $8 beans and $3 corn we will see a lot of beans planted next year as well.

• 8/07 - Northeast Indiana, Dekalb County: I all most forgot what it was like to see a storm go through and give us a nice shower, after 3 months of very little rain. I received about 6" in the last week here at my farm, but it was spotty again, most guys I talked to got 2-4" very welcomed, This has improved our bean crop from being a poor ending to the season, most beans look good now, except the ones with poor stands, and there is some poor stands . The corn crop is hard to tell what its going to do, hear anywhere from 75-140 bu range, lots of poor stands when you walk the fields, some looks good from the road, I walked my corn and this is on ground that normally raises 180bu and my corn looks good , its tall and a very good stand, about 30,000 stand but the largest ear I could find was about 7" long and 16 rows of kernels, some of the tips are gone , lots of ears 6" or shorter, and its easy to find some short ears that have not pollinated very good, also looked at my test plot of 4 different company's hybrids and they look the same on ear size and pollination , I also planted BT-Rootworm seed, the $175 seed, I also expect my yields to be 50bu short of what they should be. The combine will tell the true story this year.

• 8/06 - Southwest Ontario, Lambton County: We have be somewhat fortunate with a little more rain that most 2" in June and 1.5" July. Corn firing up to the cob and showing severe stress. Beans are going uneven and aphid populations on the rise Most areas in the county are far worse with almost no rain at all. There are a few garden spots that have seamed to be preferred paths for storms this year. These garden spot's would not be 5% of the county's area. I am reading a lot of comments about dry conditions and poor potential. Market's are suggesting a big corn crop.
  

• 8/06 - Northern Indiana, St. Joseph County: I have a very variable corn crop. It varies from mile to mile and variety to variety. I have one pioneer # that pollinated very spotty and I go one mile on the same soil type to a golden harvest # that will be tremendous for that soil, probably a 60 bu yield to 150 bu. Same situation on my heavier dirt and probably the same situation across a lot of the country. Sprayed a few acres for spider mites in beans. I am finding aphids in every field but not high enough levels for treatment and I hope it stays that way. Beans are good in our area but many spots are toooo wet and getting wetter which is starting to cause lots of poor looking fields. Double crop beans may have a chance after all, with this heat and moisture. It seems like the longest growing season I can remember, between the heat,severe drought,scouting bugs..emergence, pollination problems and now possibly too much rain. I guess that's farming, good luck this fall.

• 8/06 - Northeast Missouri: We haven't had any rain since the 2nd day of July, everytime, we think we are going to get rain it all goes North. Not going to be a very good crop, the corn here is in bad shape.

• 8/06 - Southeast Iowa: Corn looks great I did some checks and found 200-250 bpa on the good ground. Beans are different story they look like they have a lot pods but we have sudden death showing up and we had to spray for aphids. 7" rain in June 6.5" July .5" August.

• 8/06 - Pontiac County, Quebec: We are having an excellent year so far; crops in early, timely rains, corn all tasseled 3rd wk.of July. All our "flip-flop corn" (could go silage or grain) this year will go grain. We have had bumper hay crops 1st & 2nd cut (some 3rd ready to take off) most of our 2nd cut can go "south" in big sqs. Dairy and beef will eat more haylage this winter and let more "planned silage" go to grain (the mills up here like this high starch-soft textured corn)

• 8/06 - South Central Michigan: We are # 1 in POOR crop conditions for corn(60% poor/very poor) and beans just as bad. Like what was commented before: "Do not count on Michigan helping at all; you can write Michigan off". Reported my loss on 7/26 and signed the crop insurance papers. In my area yesterday, we got six tenths inch of rain. Makes for strange numbers: Planted 107 day corn. It has been 92 days trying to grow a good ear of corn with just two and eight tenths inches of rain in those three months!

• 8/06 - Ontario, Canada, Bruce County: We have the wheat harvest done. 75 to 100 bus per acre. It is very dry in need of rain . have had 3 ins in past three wks . Very hot days,but cool nights. We are at the spring wheat now. Good Luck to the dry areas that need rain.

• 8/06 - Western Iowa, Crawford County: We had a little rain over the weekend, 1 tenth Friday night, 2 tenths Saturday. We have been very dry, have not mowed lawn since June 25th. Went to a ag meeting in Lincoln Nebr last week. A well known weatherman there had said: The week of August 20 the upper Midwest will be seeing it's first killing frost 17 to 20 degrees two nights in a row: Won't that change everything? Has anyone else herd this?

• 8/06 - Monroe County, Iowa: Our corn is toast. I see places all over the state picking up some amount of measurable rain but it just won't fall here. No amount of rain will do any good for our corn at this point...it is done. Very sad to be honest. It started off so well here for the first time in years. We just couldn't get any rains for the last two months. My corn is literally burnt 3/4 of the way up the plant. We will probably be running the combine through this by mid Sept...a full month early. The beans are full of aphids. Looks like there are flash flood watches in the north and central part of the state...all we have here are huge cracks and bugs! Oh well...enough of the pity me party! :-) I am glad there a others finally getting rain and hopefully it will save some of their crops.

• 8/06 - Southeast Minnesota, Olmsted County: We've been dry for a while. Sandy ground showing stress. We received 2 inches of a nice slow rain on Saturday. On good ground, corn is filled to the end; same with sweet corn. Soybeans look good and now will thrive.
  

• 8/06 - East Central Indiana, Hancock County: Very dry here all summer. We have had 1.6" of rain in May,1.8" in June,and 1.25" in July. Spider mites are showing along the edges of some soybean fields. Corn leaves are rolled up tight by 10:00 in the morning and the soybeans on the clay hills are starting to die. Looks like a quick harvest here with no storage problems.
  

• 8/05 - North Central Missouri: Hot and dry with heat index readings of 105 to 110 is the forecast for the next 7 days here. This is going to put the finishing touches on our late may planted corn and the soybeans on clay soils. I guess our only hope is the weather forecaster's are wrong. I see from reading a lot of these posts that this dryness is pretty wide spread.

• 8/05 - Northwest Ohio, Williams County: We recieved 1.3 inches of rain last night that made a total rain since April 27. 3.4 inches with a third of that on May 1 the a third July 10. Corn has been fired for 2 weeks rain may help test wt a little but still looking at very low yields 50-80 bu. beans still have a chance we have been spraying. Weeds are still growing.

• 8/05 - East Central Indiana: Missed another rain! Had 0 in the gauge. Corn rolling and beans wilting here. Mites and aphids are just getting started here. This next week of heat is really going to hurt us.

• 8/05 - Southeast Saskatchewan: We had perfect seeding conditions until may 15th,then we got 15" of rain from then to June 28th (normal rainfall per year is 12"-15"). Crops were under lots of moisture stress,since then its turned hot and dry and finally got .2" yesterday. Overall canola looks below average from moisture stress early and heat blast on flowering stage and thresthold levels of diamondback, bretha army worms and asters yellow. Good thing the stem rot stayed away! We harvested our first field of winter wheat yesterday,ran 84bu/ac but will probably average 65-70 overall. The rest of spring seeded crops- barley,oats,peas,canola look slightly below average. We enjoy reading about conditions of the crop in the US as they have a deep and profound impact on us, as they do to everyone in ag.

• 8/05 - Renville County, Minnesota: Here in eastern Renville County we recieved 1" of a nice slow soaker on 8-4-07. May be to late for corn as it is starting to dent. By looking at how many dry leaves most corn has, you could swear it should be black layered already. It will help soybeans fill the pods out but I don't think the beans will add anymore pods. The rain will really benefit late planted sweet corn as it had no rain over 2 tenths since planting in 3rd week of June. Early planted sweet corn yields all over the place from 2 ton/acre or less, which is terrible, up to 8.5 ton which is good tonnage. Expecting the same variability from field corn as rains were so spotty this year.

• 8/04 - West Central Minnesota, Lac Qui Parle County: Finally got some rain here. about 3/4 inch. Chance of more in a couple days. Hope the corn isn't hurt to bad. Beans will use all this moisture. We will keep doing the rain dance.

• 8/04 - Golva, North Dakota: The crops are very nice here this year. i dont travel much but have heard others say it is the best here of anywhere. south west east. I think north of us is good also. We have several scary hail storms in the beginning so I hope they stay away. Wheat running from 50-60 bushel. Winter wheat that is. corn looks great. alot of green here. God has been with us so far and we are very thankful. Farmers NEED a crop with this high fuel fertilizer costs. A lot of farms can go down easy with no crop . This area isn't a large area of nice crop though. Just go 60 miles east of us and you can start to see much drier. We are close to the Montana line if you wanna know where Golva is.

• 8/03 - South Central Indiana: It’s been spotty here also. The whole region is behind in rainfall ranging from minus 4 inches to minus 8 inches from May 1. After the 2007 crop was temporarily rescued and partially built by a series of 11th hour rains, the heat this week is trying to drive the final nail into the coffin. The crop is falling apart before our eyes. Corn is firing up to the ear and the drought stressed soybeans are being attacked by the mite and aphid critters. There is that white cast to the countryside when you drive about in the afternoon of these 90+ degree days. Ditches are dry and rivers are showing sand bars not seen since 1983. Not looking like a good finish.

• 8/03 - North Central Indiana, Fulton/Miami Counties: It's very spotty. We farm in about a 3 mile radius. Corn goes from really hurt to not too bad. Soybeans need a drink now! Forecast (since when can weathermen predict the weather.) isn't calling for anything of significance for the next 10 days. Soybeans are podding and still blooming. Heat is taking it's toll. By the time most of the fronts reach us the precip falls apart. Guess it's our turn?

• 8/03 - Central Alabama: Corn here is a total disaster...I can personally say everything from Birmingham to the southern coast is toast. I can only imagine what corn looks like north of B'ham...since the drought has been worse in upper Alabama. It looks like there won't be a corn harvest here...I mean, even the pussywillow around the swampy areas is dying.
  

• 8/03 - Central Minnesota: The crops here are in bad shape but some rain is in the forecast. If this rain covers Central and Southern Minnesota like the forecasts say, the corn should finish filling (what pollinated) and the soybeans should turn around as well. No aphids to date...too dry. Had a chance to drive from near St. Cloud, MN to southern Illinois 3 days ago. Wow from the Twin Cities SE all the way to Illinois the crops look beautiful. There is going to be a lot of corn out there. Just not a lot in Central to SW Minnesota. Eastern Iowa and Illinois look just fabulous. Wait to see what this crop is going to do when it finally rains before writing this crop off. This year is so similar to last year that it is kinda freaky. Last year the corn and especially the soybeans really turned around, even in early August.

• 8/02 - Huntington County, Indiana: Thing going from bad to worse here. Just 2.7 in rain since end of April. Now with 95 to 98 degree heat, corn going downhill by the hour Not even coming back at night.

• 8/02 - South Central Ohio: Kiss soybeans on the gravel ground goodbye this week. What's left after the spider mites get done with them , rain may not be able to help. Corn is highly variable. Some crops very good with July rains in excess of 4-5" in some parts of the county, yet just a few miles away, only received 1/2-3/4 of inch of rain over the same period. Some farmers are quietly praying for a major hailstorm.

• 8/02 - South Central Minnesota, Faribault County: Walked some corn last night and was a little disappointed. It looked good from the road, but the plant is really starting to canibalize. Ears on some varieties tipped back and short, one variety looks like it had some pollination troubles and are blank on one side. Stand and ear counts are good. One field was starting to dent already. I'm afraid our crop is maturing too fast. We have been very dry, but have heavy soils that hold a lot of moisture. Finished Aphid spraying two days ago. Beans look tall on the edge of the field, but the hills are short. They are also way ahead of schedule with almost all in the full podding stage. I'm starting to question if rain will only help fill what's there but not promote new growth. We need some cooler wetter conditions to slow things down and preserve what is out there.

• 8/02 - Southern Minnesota: Very dry a lot of acres done for. No rain will help now. I know this sounds unrealistic but if the board of trade drops the price of corn and beans so much just on the chance it might rain up here in SW. MN. then why don't it raise the price every day we loose more crop. And that is not just a prediction thats reality. If they would do that corn would be 10.00 a Bu.

• 8/01 - Roberts County, South Dakota: Spring wheat yields are a great disappointment, 40's and 50's. Corn and Beans starting to show some stress as rains have been very spotty with not much water to look forward into next week. Codington/Hamlin Counties will be calling their insurance guys.

• 8/01 - Central Indiana: 70 miles due north of Indianapolis. I have said all along my corn looked good. Forward priced 150 bpa. I may have made a mistake. Corn is looking bad with leaves rolling now and starting to fire. We need rain. Beans look good but leaves are drooping in the heat and dryness.

• 8/01 - Allegan County, Michigan: Corn here looks very bad. We have had only .5 inches of rain since first of June. It has been 85 to 97 degrees since the first of June also. Looking at 50 bushel yields or less on corn. The beans dried up and blew away. Crop insurance will help, but its not the same as 150-200 bu yields, try again next year.

• 8/01 - Brown County, Wisconsin: I am a grain hauler in the upper Midwest and I travel upper Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Iowa. Some crops not too bad, but parts of southern Minnesota, the north half of Wisconsin and all of upper Michigan are very close to a total disaster for corn and beans. Wheat not too bad, about 60% of last years crop. All we can do is pray for rain if not to late already.
  

• 8/01 - Central Georgia: We've had a few timely rains and things look much better. Corn is finished and drying in the field. Looks like 80/bpa dryland. Should be harvested next week. Cotton, blooming profusely and looking good except for the Roundup resistant pigweeds which had to be controlled by another expensive chemical.

• 8/01 - Central Missouri: Dry dry dry. No rain in sight beans shriveling early. Corn looks good around the edges - not in the middle. Corn potential is 50 75 bu less here than a month ago and beans will need rain soon or they will have lost 15 20 bushels of potential. Not a pretty sight need water now.

• 8/01 - North Dakota: Just drove across the state from east to west and have not seen such a good crop over all. The only exception was an area that had hail in the east. Look for more corn acres and an above trend yield. Wheat crop sounds great with 50 to 60 bu yields in the west. Going to be interesting storage situation in ND this year.

• 8/01 - Northeast Illinois: Hot and dry here. Can't believe that a forecast for scattered showers in Minnesota and Southeast South Dakota, where the ratings for corn are 30 to 40% good to excellent can make the Chicago board of trade drop the the prices like a rock. If they get a shower it is not going to shoot the average up to 150 bu. just like that. Around here, there is not an average of 150 bushels of corn,we are more like 140. Corn is not made yet and we still need more rain. Been 90+ degrees here for last 4 days and dry wind.

• 8/01 - Northwest Illinois, Lee County: Lots and lots of corn and it all looks great. Probably 80% corn and 20% beans in the area. After a very dry May with no rain till Memorial Day, we received 4 inches in June and 8 inches in July. Lots of fungicide went on this year.

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