Crop Watch 2025: Corn Yield Threats
Several threats are impacting corn yields this season, including overly tight tassel wrap, Southern Rust and tar spot.
Unscripted: ‘Overly Tight Tassel Wrap’ Affecting Pollination?
Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal field agronomist, joins Tyne Morgan and Clinton Griffiths to shed light on crop conditions, particularly pollination issues.
Crop Condition News
Farmers across South Dakota and eastern Iowa are breathing a sigh of relief into the weekend. That’s after rains hit parched crops, relieving some major crop stress for now.
Bean planting populations of 190,000 to 220,000 in washed out areas can help keep weeds from taking over.
As record heat continues to blast the West, the Northwest Cherry Growers said the heat will force some growers to abandon a portion of their crop due to the damage. It’s also forcing farm workers to harvest at night.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says unfavorable weather means everything from barley to spring and durum wheat are getting scorched this year. Crop condition ratings continue to tumble as dryness and heat persist.
Corn harvesting in Argentina advanced by 3.4 points to reach 56% of planted area, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in a report on Thursday, keeping its crop estimate unchanged at 48 million tonnes for 2020/2021.
As June closed on a wetter note for portions of the Midwest, three agricultural meteorologists forecast July, indicating continued rains for the corn crop in some areas, but drastic drought areas growing even drier.
USDA’s weekly Crop Progress Report shows the U.S. corn crop is rated 64% good to excellent, the same as a week ago but off by 7 percentage points versus 2020. Soybean ratings nationally declined, but only by 1 point.
Wet weather forecasts across the Midwest caused commodity prices to tank Tuesday, with soybean oil and corn hitting the daily limits lower. Much of the Midwest is forecast to receive rain at key pollination time.
Rains continue to fall across portions of the Midwest this week, a sign one ag meteorologist says could mean Midwestern drought conditions have peaked. However, the news isn’t as promising for the northern Corn Belt.
Areas of the Corn Belt in need of moisture are finally seeing rain this week, but it came with severe crop damage to portions of Iowa after hail wiped out some farm fields this week.