Precipitation
The Climate Prediction Center says there’s a 71% chance of La Niña conditions developing from October through December, while also issuing a La Niña Watch. However, one meteorologist expects La Niña to make a quick exit.
Recent rains may have been too little, too late for the U.S. corn and soybean crops. Drought continues to deepen, and the forecast over the next two weeks points to favorable harvest weather, but it won’t help the drought situation.
It’s a head-scratcher situation: some Illinois farmers are reporting moisture levels in their corn are dropping only one point per week.
It’s not disease hurting the Illinois corn and soybean crop this year. It’s dryness and drought. Ashland, Ill., farmer Brent Johnson says just two weeks into harvest, the dry finish to summer is eating into both his corn and soybean yields.
The crop took it on the chin this season, with some Iowa farmers reporting huge yield losses as harvest gets underway. A one-time fungicide application helped, but it wasn’t enough to buck severe disease pressure, allowing it to return.
Agronomic specialists are encouraging farmers to make their corn harvest plans now, prioritizing which fields to combine first and so forth. Evaluating how well the crop is standing on a field by field basis can help you plan the process and minimize having to pick up down corn.
The amount of damage that can occur in crops depends largely upon these factors — how cold it gets and for how many hours, and the plants’ stage of development.
Will this be the summer of drought that never fully materialized for these two crops? While there are areas of dryness, both continue to flourish. Here’s a look at how August weather is expected to finish out this week across the country, as September comes into view.
On the heels of Crop Tour, Pro Farmer projects corn yields at 6.1 bu. below USDA’s August estimate, while soybean yield numbers are nearly aligned.
The Minnesota corn crop is going for gold. Pro Farmer Crop Tour scouts expect the crop will reach a record 202.86 bu. average, if it can outpace southern rust and tar spot. Scouts peg the Iowa corn crop at a 198.43 bu. average, but it also faces disease challenges.