Temperature

Mid-March Heat Wave Shatters Records in the West — Is This a 2012-Style Setup?

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:02:49 GMT

A powerful and persistent heat wave is sweeping across the western United States, shattering temperature records and fueling growing concern among farmers and ranchers about what it could signal for the months ahead.

From the deserts of the Southwest to the inland Northwest, the scope and intensity of this early-season heat event is turning heads. More than 60 daily record highs have already been set, with temperatures reaching levels far more typical of late spring or even midsummer.

Forecast high temperatures today through Monday. Tomorrow still appears to be the worst of it, before a "cold front" enters the picture...#desertfarmers #cowx #wywx #kswx #newx #okwx #txwx pic.twitter.com/vQ3NXruOrG
— Brian Bledsoe 🐊 (@BrianBledsoe) March 20, 2026

In Palm Springs, the mercury surged to a scorching 103°F. Phoenix hit its first 100°F day of the year — marking the earliest occurrence on record and breaking a longstanding record set in 1988. Meanwhile, Boise climbed to 80°F, the earliest date that threshold has been reached since record keeping began in 1875, and only the second time it has ever happened during winter.

For producers already navigating tight margins and dry pasture conditions, the question is immediate and pressing: With the current drought picture and early extreme heat, is this a similar setup to 2012?

A Stubborn Pattern Takes Hold

According to Brian Bledsoe of Brian Bledsoe Weather, the current heat wave is being driven by a dominant atmospheric feature that is effectively locking in warmth and shutting out precipitation.

“Well, the good thing about this time of year is that with the seasonal change that takes place, we usually see some weather variability take place along the way, instead of just getting locked into these things for just weeks on end,” Bledsoe explains. “And I think that’s an important thing to consider here. First of all, that I’m much happier that this is occurring now, if it has to occur — versus, say, in July or August, because we’ll see this thing break down eventually.”

The high heat in the West is forecast to stick around until at least early April.

(Brian Bledsoe, Brian Bledsoe Weather )

He says the current setup isn’t brief in the short term, with the forecast map showing the high heat sticking around through at least early April.

“If we look at our forecast temperature anomalies right through April 1, you see that big orange and red blob over the West and the Southwest. And for that matter, across a large part of the country. This ridge is not just going to impact the West. I’s going to spread its way eastward,” Bledsoe explains.

That expansion of warmth could bring above-normal temperatures to regions that have not yet experienced much seasonal heat.

“It’s going to bring a substantial amount of warmth to some areas of the country that haven’t been necessarily all that warm,” Bledsoe says. “So we’re locked in this at least through the end of March.”

Heat and Dryness Go Hand in Hand

The same high-pressure ridge driving the heat is also suppressing precipitation — a combination that is particularly concerning for agriculture.

“Precipitation anomaly-wise, that’s also going to be kind of owing to what this ridge is about, which is just kind of blocking any big storms from coming in from the Pacific,” Bledsoe says. “So, wherever you’re seeing the brown, that is likely where we’re going to see drier-than-average conditions through the same time.”

Much of the Southwest, and the central and southern Great Plains, missed out on precipitation, and instead dealt with a dry, warm and windy week.

(U.S. Drought Monitor )

Why that’s so concerning is the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, which shows 41% of the nation’s corn production area is already in drought . For cotton, 89% is facing dry conditions. For cattle country, 54% of the current cattle inventory is experiencing drought.

This week’s drought picture reflects a sharp split across the country. While areas of the upper Midwest and East saw rain and snow, much of the Southwest, central and southern Plains, and parts of the western U.S. experienced a dry, warm and windy week, which worsened conditions.

Drought and abnormal dryness expanded or intensified across areas like South Dakota, Nebraska, southwest Kansas, southern Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and parts of Oregon that missed out on meaningful moisture. Overall, while some regions saw clear improvements, the lack of precipitation and ongoing moisture deficits continue to drive worsening conditions across a broad swath of the western and central U.S.

That lack of moisture, combined with unseasonable warmth, could accelerate soil moisture depletion and stress rangeland and early-planted crops. Still, Bledsoe emphasizes the calendar offers some reassurance.

“There is some potential for this to break down, though, I think, as we get into April,” he said. “And I think, as I mentioned, that is a very important thing to consider.”

Ocean Temperatures Play a Major Role

Beyond the immediate atmospheric setup, Bledsoe points to broader oceanic influences that are helping fuel the current pattern, but more particularly what’s happening in the eastern Pacific.

“The other element of this is what’s driving this in terms of heat right now, and it has a lot to do with the sea surface temperature anomalies situated off the west and southwest coast of the United States,” he says.

“If you look at those sea surface temperature anomalies there off the Baja, that is a lot warmer than average than we should be. And if you go just to the south of there, that’s the western tip of South America, and that’s where our budding El Niño event is taking place,” Bledsoe adds.

Sea surface temperatures tell the story for what summer could bring.

(Brian Bledsoe )

Those warmer waters are part of a larger pattern known as the Pacific Meridional Mode (PDO), which can have significant impacts on U.S. weather.

“There’s a lot of warmer-than-average water that’s right there in the East and the Northeast Pacific Ocean,” Bledsoe says. “And any time you see this signature right there, especially off the southwest coast of California, the Baja, western New Mexico — that is referred to as the positive phase of the Pacific Meridional Mode.”

He says the current setup bears some resemblance to patterns seen in recent years, including 2023, when a rapid transition from La Niña to El Niño coincided with widespread heat.

“One important reference that I want to kind of draw a comparison to here is the last time we had a really positive Pacific Meridional Mode,” Bledsoe says. “This is what happened in July and August of 2023. And remember, I’ve talked about this before, but 2023 was the last that we went from a La Niña to an El Niño in a pretty quick fashion. And we also had that positive phase of the Pacific Meridional Mode.”

The result then was widespread warmth across the West and into the southern Plains and Gulf Coast. However, precipitation outcomes were more mixed.

“You might say, well, did that necessarily reflect a dry summer too? Were the precipitation anomalies dry for that? For some areas, but not everybody,” Bledsoe says. “And I’m not saying that 2023 is exactly what this upcoming year is going to be. I’m just trying to draw some parallels here from where we might see some of these things take place.”

Not the Same As 2012

Bledsoe says the current weather pattern bears watching, but it’s important not to confuse it with the historic 2012 drought. One of the biggest differences is the large-scale atmospheric and oceanic setup. In 2012, the U.S. was working from a weak La Niña base, and a persistent ridge of high pressure locked in over the central Corn Belt, cutting off moisture and allowing heat to intensify week after week. That kind of feedback loop is what turned a hot pattern into a historic drought.

Have talked about this more than once lately, but here is a look at the Ensemble Oceanic Niño Indices (courtesy of @webberweather) from 2010 through 2023. The ENS ONI for 2012 was negative early and slightly positive late. However, here is the sea surface temperature anomaly… pic.twitter.com/Q8PDo9XEhn
— Brian Bledsoe 🐊 (@BrianBledsoe) March 14, 2026

This year, the setup is fundamentally different.

“You can’t, from a sea surface temperature standpoint,” he says. “I’ve talked a lot about this on X. That same area of the ocean that I was just showing you just a little bit ago was a lot colder than average than where we are right now,” Bledsoe says. “So, there are different forces at work. When you get cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures off the west coast of North America, extended from the Baja all the way up to the Gulf of Alaska, a lot of times that is a very strong heat and drought signal for the center part of the country. And right now, that is the complete opposite.”

NOAA

(NOAA )

The transition into El Niño conditions tends to favor a more active storm track and can help keep systems moving across the country, rather than allowing a dominant, stationary ridge to take hold. Bledsoe points out while heat will still develop, especially in parts of the South and West, the overall pattern does not show the same prolonged, stagnant heat dome that defined 2012.

The current soil moisture levels and early-season precipitation are generally more favorable than they were heading into the 2012 growing season. Back then, much of the Corn Belt was already running dry before the worst of the summer heat even arrived, which allowed drought conditions to escalate rapidly. Today’s environment, while not without risk, starts from a less vulnerable position.

NOAA

(NOAA)

That said, Bledsoe cautions there are still areas to watch. While the central U.S. doesn’t appear poised for a 2012-style widespread drought, there are signals pointing toward heat and dryness across parts of Texas, the southern Plains and areas along the Gulf Coast. He notes a scenario where spring moisture gives way to drier summer conditions that could set the stage for localized flash drought concerns by mid-to-late summer.

Overall, Bledsoe says the takeaway is that while 2012 remains a benchmark for extreme heat and drought, the current setup does not mirror the same atmospheric drivers. The pattern this year appears more dynamic, with regional risks rather than a single, dominant, all-encompassing drought signal across the heart of the country.

A Critical Window Ahead

For now, the early-season timing of this heat wave may ultimately limit its long-term damage, but it does not eliminate risk.

“We obviously have to prepare for it,” Bledsoe says. “But the good thing about something occurring right now is that it’s transient. It will get out of here.”

He adds: “And I’m sure we’re going to see something that is probably more akin to that spring change soon.”

Until then, producers across the West, and increasingly across the central U.S., will be watching forecasts closely, balancing cautious optimism with the reality that the 2026 growing season is already off to an unusually hot start.

Solving The Sulfur Shortage In High-Yield Soybean Systems

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:45:27 GMT

As more farmers push to plant soybeans early, one nutrient is emerging as a valuable difference-maker in the crop: sulfur. The macronutrient is helping deliver some of the largest yield responses Shaun Casteel says he has seen in recent field trials.

“Never would you think you’d see double-digit results, let alone 20-bushel numbers in soybean yield from one treatment,” says Casteel, Purdue University agronomist and Extension soybean specialist.

Yet that’s exactly what he has documented in some Indiana fields where supplemental sulfur was applied, especially in early planted soybean fields.

Why Sulfur Matters More Now

Sulfur is required by all crops, but Casteel says soybean needs are unique compared with grass crops like corn. In soybeans, sulfur is critical as a co-factor for nodulation, the biological process that allows soybean plants to use atmospheric nitrogen (N).

“If we don’t have good sulfur supply, we don’t have good nodulation and fixation,” Casteel explains. “If you’re sold short on nitrogen in soybeans, you’re sold short on yield in a major way.”

Historically, sulfur came “free” from the atmosphere and also from mineralization of organic matter in the soil. Cleaner air regulations have reduced atmospheric deposition, and Casteel says many farmers are starting to see sulfur shortages that weren’t obvious just as recently as a decade ago.

Historically, sulfur was readily available to soybeans via atmospheric deposition (acid rain) from industrial emissions, providing 10 to 30 lbs./acre annually. Due to the 1970 Clean Air Act reducing emissions by over 95%, this “free” source has disappeared, making sulfur supplementation essential to prevent deficiencies, especially on sandy soils, according to University Extension.

(Shaun Casteel)

The classic high-response situations for sulfur — coarse-textured, sandy soils with less than 2% organic matter — still stand out. But Casteel’s work is showing the story for sulfur doesn’t end there.

“I also have fields that are flat and black as a table, with 4% organic matter, where we’re getting sizable yield differences,” he says.

Early Planting Amplifies Sulfur Response

Casteel links some of the most dramatic sulfur responses to a broader trend across the country: earlier soybean planting.

In Indiana, planting patterns have shifted sharply in recent years. Soybeans that once went in the ground two weeks after corn are now being planted within a day or two of corn — and in many cases, are planted first.

Early planting improves yield potential by giving soybeans more time to develop nodes and reproductive branches. But it can also expose a weakness in the natural sulfur supply.

For those farmers chasing higher yielding soybeans, Shaun Casteel believes the use of supplemental sulfur deserves more consideration.

(Shaun Casteel)

Casteel points out that mineralization of sulfur from soil organic matter depends on microbial activity and warm temperatures. When soybeans are planted in late April or early May, Indiana soils – as week as soils in other states – are often too cool for the microbes to release much sulfur.

“In those cooler conditions, that mineralization really isn’t occurring,” he says.

Across multiple studies where planting date was combined with sulfur use, Casteel has seen consistently stronger responses in early-planted soybeans.

“We’ve got years that we’re averaging an 8- to 11-bushel response on prairie soil,” he says. In these trials, sulfur was (e.g., ammonium sulfate, pelletized gypsum, ammonium thiosulfate) applied pre at 20 pounds per acre during a 5-year period.

Beyond Fertility: A Surprising Disease Connection

Sulfur’s role may extend beyond delivering nutrition and helping fix nitrogen in soybeans. Casteel and his research team are seeing signs that sulfur helps reduce the severity of sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soybeans.

In a 2023 soybean trial, as Casteel began rating symptoms of SDS, he noticed a clear difference between sulfur-treated and untreated strips.

“We had good conditions for SDS development — cool, wet conditions during early vegetative growth. We had a marked, substantial reduction in SDS in those areas that had the sulfur treatment,” he recalls.

The unexpected result prompted a deeper look in 2024, when Casteel worked with Plant Pathologist Darcy Telenko on trials that combined planting dates, sulfur rates and SDS inoculation. Early data from those studies pointed in the same direction: soybeans receiving sulfur showed reduced disease expression.

“Beyond the fertility effect, beyond the fixation-boosting capacity that comes with this, there is evidence that we have some disease control or suppression,” Casteel says, cautioning that the results are still based on only a few years of data.

“If you really think about it, the first fungicides on the market 100 years ago were sulfur-based, so it’s not too surprising that we might be seeing something here,” he adds.

Big Upsides Where Sulfur Use Fills The Gap

Casteel is careful to note that the sulfur response in soybeans is often site-specific. Classic sandy soils and low-organic-matter fields are prime candidates for the nutrient. But his work suggests that even high-organic-matter fields can show strong gains when sulfur is limiting.

(Shaun Casteel)

That variability doesn’t dampen his enthusiasm. Instead, he sees sulfur as a high-upside tool for intensive soybean managers who already have the basics — variety selection, disease packages, and timely planting — under control.

“It’s fun to have treatments out there that are providing hope and promise,” Casteel says. “We’re seeing numbers with sulfur that really move the needle.”

With earlier planting becoming the norm and biological sulfur supply under pressure, Casteel expects interest in using Sulfur to keep growing. For those growers chasing 100-bushel soybeans, especially, he believes sulfur deserves more consideration as they develop fertility plans.

“If you have not explored sulfur on your soybean crops, I suggest applying strips of S fertilizer that is soluble (e.g., ammonium sulfate, pelletized gypsum, ammonium thiosulfate) between 15- to 25-pounds of S per acre to determine if you have fields or production practices that are responsive to boosting nodulation and N fixation,” he recommends. “Applications can be applied mid-March through planting with higher rates the earlier you apply the S fertilizer.”

More information on Casteel’s research results with sulfur in soybeans is available here .

When Weird Corn Ears Wreck the Bottom Line

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 19:58:07 GMT

Abnormal corn ears may look like a cosmetic problem, but depending on the severity, they can deliver a significant hit to yield, reports Osler Ortez, Ohio State University corn specialist.

“If a field is managed for 200-bushel corn but only delivers 100 bushels because abnormal ears dominate, then every pound of nitrogen, every inch of irrigation and every pass you make across that field becomes much harder to justify,” he says.

Yield losses from abnormal corn ears can range from 35% to 91% in affected plants, with typical field-wide impacts often trailing lower, Ortez reports.

For reference, an “average” corn ear generally produces 16 kernel rows with about 800 kernels per ear, according to the Iowa State Extension.

Irregularities such as zipper ears (shown below), earless plants or multiple ears, reduce grain yield through poor kernel set, abortion or reduced kernel weight.

A common abnormality called zipper ear is caused by kernel abortion or failed pollination. The issue is often triggered by severe environmental stress during early grain fill or pollination from factors including drought, high heat or nutrient deficiency.

(R. L. Nielsen, professor emeritus and Purdue University Corn Specialist, retired)

Ortez emphasizes no single factor explains abnormal ear development. It’s nearly always the result of an interaction between three factors that corn researchers refer to as GEM:
G — Genetics (hybrid)

E — Environment (weather, stress)

M — Management (practices)

He adds that understanding when the stress is happening, the timing of it, is also important. For instance, early-season stress can limit ear initiation and potential ear number, while midseason issues impact pollination and kernel set. Late-season stress reduces kernel fill and overall weight.

Strategic Management Levers

While the weather can’t be controlled, Ortez says understanding the GEM interaction gives corn growers more leverage than they realize.

He lists three management decisions that can help growers mitigate the risk of abnormal ear development:

1. Evaluate the genetics: Treating hybrid selection as a defensive tool against ear problems — right alongside disease tolerance and standability — is one of the clearest ways to lower risk.

2. Pick a recommended seeding rate: In Nebraska field trials, Ortez observed abnormal ears increased at both ends of the seeding rate spectrum.

“Chasing a few extra bushels with aggressive populations, especially on drought-prone or otherwise stressed acres, often backfired when stress hit at the wrong time,” he notes. Conversely, pulling populations too low also created conditions where ear development went off track.

3. Consider the planting date: Researchers found planting hybrids outside the optimal window — either very early into cold, wet conditions or very late into heat and moisture stress — made it more likely sensitive growth stages would line up with damaging stress. Matching planting date to local recommendations and the strengths of a given hybrid proved to be an important way to reduce those risky overlaps.

Ultimately, by tuning into GEM, farmers can better safeguard their investments. As Ortez points out, the more sides of that triangle a farmer can stabilize or improve, the less likely a season’s worth of hard work and inputs will be undone by a field of problem ears.

Hear Ortez share more of his research on abnormal ear development in a recent podcast sponsored by the Crop Protection Network.

Frozen Calf Gets Spa Treatment and Couch Cuddles During Arctic Blast

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 16:00:49 GMT

With the cattle herd still at multi-decade lows, every calf counts more than ever. That’s especially true during these last few days as arctic air and winter storms poured into the lower 48.

Macey Sorrell and her family live and farm in Mt. Sterling, Ky. As the area recently experienced storms of freezing rain and sheets of ice, the Sorrells welcomed a new calf into the world.

“Whenever my husband found her, she was maybe two hours old and she was already frozen with ice all in her hair,” Sorrell describes. “Her little umbilical cord looked like a popsicle. So I took the truck back there, put the calf in the bed of the truck and brought her in the house.”

Blankets, a hair dryer, a good rub down and bottle of colostrum helped warm the new baby up.

“After she got her belly full, she was ready for a nap,” Sorrell says. “My kids had also fallen asleep, so I just piled her up on the couch with them for some cuddles.”

The pictures she snapped while the little ones slept are cute enough to warm even the coldest heart. The moment, frozen in time, is now going viral.

“The reaction has been crazy,” Sorrell laughs. “You know, anywhere around here, this is nothing new. You’re going to see a calf inside, a sheep or even a goat. Folks are going to bring the babies inside. I think what made it so special was just the calf on the couch with the babies cuddling.”

The next morning, warm and newly named baby Sally had a happy reunion with her mama.

“When her mama heard her mooing, she came running,” Sorrell says. “Sally started nursing, and they have both been really good since.”

Sorrell and her husband, Tanner, are pleased with the results and the life lessons for their little crew.

“I think, if anything, it’s not an animal. It is a life, and we’ll do whatever we can to help not only an animal but anybody,” Sorrell says. “There’s always a space in my house for a critter.”

The cold is still visiting. More snow is in the forecast. The work at America’s farms and ranches never stops. Since Sally arrived, more babies have been born in the cold.

“We actually had a baby calf born just a few days before that one, and then another one born yesterday,” Sorrell says.

And life on the farm continues, both inside and out.

It’s not just Kentucky dealing with the severe winter storm aftermath and the devastation it left behind. As of Jan. 31, 2026, it was reported over 150,000 homes and businesses remain without power across the Mid-South, specifically in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana, following a severe winter storm.

Farm Journal’s Chris Bennett says it could be weeks before his area of Mississippi will have power again, as he describes the horrific scene from last week’s winter storm.

Winter-Proof Your Workforce: Keeping Employees Warm on the Job

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 17:31:51 GMT

What started as a mild winter is bound to become brutal as plunging, dangerous temperatures sweep across much of the U.S. While most of the country will stay bundled up inside, farmers and their employees don’t have the luxury of skipping work for a snow day.

To create a safe and comfortable work environment for your farm employees, it’s important to address the specific challenges posed by cold weather on the farm. As temperatures begin to drop, consider implementing the following tips to keep your crew safe, warm and productive:

Make Sure They Have Adequate Clothing

Dressing poorly shouldn’t be considered “cool,” especially when it comes to harsh winter weather conditions on the farm. However, not all employees know how to appropriately dress for the bitter weather. Consider providing them with the following checklist and keeping a few extra items in a bin for employees to use in case they forget.

Some examples of warm winter clothing include:

Lined jackets
Lined overalls
Stocking caps / hats and lined gloves
Long thermal underwear
Lined boots – waterproof and anti-slip
Wicking wool socks
Scarf

Provide Warm Break Areas

Working out in the cold can take a toll on the body. That’s why it’s necessary to take frequent breaks to rest and warm up. To keep employees going, be sure to create designated warm break areas for your employees to recuperate.

Offer snacks that are not only tasty but also provide energy. Nutritious options like trail mix, energy bars, and fruits can help replenish energy levels. You can also supply a selection of hot beverages like coffee, tea or hot chocolate. If employees are coming in from wet or snowy conditions, consider having a designated area with a drying rack for wet outerwear, gloves, and boots.

Adjust Schedules

Adjusting schedules in the winter is a practical strategy to address the challenges and potential hazards associated with cold weather. Along with allowing more frequent breaks to prevent prolonged exposure to the cold, consider scheduling more grueling outdoor tasks during the warmer parts of the day.

Keep Up Communication

Safety concerns rise as cold weather intensifies. This rings true for not only our employees, but livestock as well. Keep the lines of communication open with employees to address concerns and gather feedback on their comfort and to learn if areas of the farm need immediate attention.

Work in Pairs

While farmers are already hard-pressed to find labor, working in pairs allows employees to get the job done quickly and safely. Using the buddy system ensures that every employee is accounted for and that the work gets done in a timely fashion. This system is especially important for employees working in remote areas.

Have an Emergency Kit

Winter weather can be unpredictable. Having an emergency kit in a well-known location can be a lifesaver when it comes to coping with unexpected challenges. Keep your kit filled with the essentials, such as:

Medical supplies
Extra clothing
Blankets
Handwarmers
Flashlights
Non-perishable snacks

Know the Signs of Cold Stress

Hypothermia and frostbite are the two most common forms of cold stress and can be fatal if left untreated. To help minimize the risk of these conditions going unnoticed, make sure to review and be on the lookout for the following symptoms.

Signs of Hypothermia:

Fast and shallow breathing / trouble breathing.
Going from shivering to not shivering.
Hunger, fatigue and confusion.
Lack of coordination.
Increased heart rate.
Weak pulse.
Slurred speech / mumbling.
Dizziness and nausea.

Signs of Frostbite:

Cold skin, prickling feeling and numbness.
Red, white, bluish-white or grayish-yellow skin.
Hard or waxy-looking skin.
Clumsiness due to joint and muscle stiffness.
Blistering after rewarming when severe (expect exposed skin to peel off).
If the skin turns black seek medical attention..

Iowa Farmer Battles Today's Pests While Eyeing Tomorrow's 'Mean Sixteen' Threats

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 18:52:50 GMT

For Worth County, Iowa, farmer Sarah Tweeten, the list of high-priority agronomic threats isn’t a political abstract — it’s a harsh reality she deals with every season.

Farming with her parents, Brian and Julie, and her uncle Roger, Tweeten has been steering the partnership toward more resilient cropping practices since joining the operation in 2021. This includes shifting from conventional tillage to strip tillage and splitting nitrogen applications.

The changes are part of a broader mindset: Protecting yields today from weeds, disease and insects while aggressively preparing for the next generation of agronomic threats. This forward-thinking approach is what led Tweeten to Washington, D.C., earlier this week as a Farm Journal Foundation farmer ambassador to help introduce a new report: “ The Mean Sixteen: Major Biosecurity Threats Facing U.S. Agriculture and How Policy Solutions Can Help. ”

Today’s Battles and Tomorrow’s Warnings
Researched and developed by Stephanie Mercier, PhD, the report takes an in-depth look at 16 significant pest issues U.S. farmers face now or could realistically in the future.

Tweeten is already battling a couple of the problems that underpin the urgency behind the research. For example, Palmer amaranth (pigweed) is gaining ground in her fields and across Iowa. The pervasive broadleaf weed can drastically reduce yields, with studies showing corn yield reductions between 11% and 91% and soybean yield reductions of 17% to 68%.

“We’ve struggled with pigweed as it continues to establish more resistance to our herbicides in our toolkit,” Tweeten says.

Two additional agronomic issues the report details include:

1. Asian Soybean Rust. First detected in the U.S. in Louisiana in 2004, this fungal disease has spread to southern states like Georgia and Mississippi. Scientists warn that warming winters could enable its migration to the Midwest, adding to existing disease pressures.

2. Corn Ear Rot. It can lead to aflatoxin production, making corn unmarketable and posing risks to humans and livestock. Aflatoxin is an issue Pickens County, Ala., farmer Annie Dee says is an ongoing problem for corn growers in her area.

“If we have aflatoxin, it can be impossible to sell the corn,” says Dee, also a Farm Journal Foundation Farmer ambassador.

A more recent threat she references is the impact of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (bird flu) on local poultry farms.

Since January 2022, HPAI has been confirmed in a commercial or backyard poultry flock in all 50 states.

(USDA)

“An important market for us is poultry feed meal, so that’s a constant worry. The trickle-down effect is if we can’t move our corn then we can’t meet our financial obligations,” Dee adds.

Despite agricultural R&D offering a high ROI — $20 in benefits for every $1 spent — the Farm Journal Foundation report notes public funding for ag research has been declining over the past two decades.

“Farmers urgently need sustained support for aflatoxin research and prevention because these risks threaten our yields, our markets and the trust consumers place in American agriculture,” Dee says.

U.S. public spending on ag research and development has been falling for two decades.

(USDA-ERS)

African Swine Fever Has ‘Devastating Potential’
Looking to the future, Tweeten says she is concerned about African swine fever (ASF) and its potential to impact crop farmers as well as hog producers. The highly contagious swine disease hasn’t been detected in the U.S. mainland, but it isn’t far away. ASF has been confirmed in the Caribbean countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, roughly 700 miles from Miami, Fla.

“Being a farmer from Iowa, where we have probably eight times the amount of pigs as we do people, an outbreak of ASF would be just devastating to our state,” Tweeten says.

Hogs are among the biggest customers for the corn and soybeans Tweeten and her family grow. If African swine fever were to shut down hog production or exports, it wouldn’t just be a blow to livestock producers – it would hurt the entire agricultural community, she contends.

Read about 5 livestock diseases that could impact U.S. food security and economic stability.

Food Security Is National Security
When it comes to justifying funding for ag research, Tweeten knows there’s competition for every federal dollar. But she believes agriculture deserves a front-row seat — not only because of its economic weight and impact on farmers, but because of its role in national security.

“There’s that argument that food security is national security,” she says. “If there’s one thing COVID made us aware of, it’s that a disruption to our food chain can be terrifying, quite frankly.”

The pandemic made consumers and policymakers more aware of supply chain vulnerability. In 2020, the shock to the supply chain came from a human disease and logistical bottlenecks.

(Sarah Williams Photography)

Next time, Tweeten says, the disruption could just as easily come from animal or plant disease — whether African swine fever in hogs, Asian soybean rust or some other pathogen in crops. She worries about scenarios where farmers could face a fast-moving disease or crop pest while critical tools are still hung up in regulatory delays.

Her message: Farmers need a full toolbox, not one that’s half-built by the time a threat arrives.

“Ag needs to be in a good position when these sorts of emerging diseases and pests come into the country,” she says, “to have the tools in our toolbox ready for farmers to pull out.”

About the Farm Journal Foundation
The Farm Journal Foundation is a farmer-centered, non-profit, nonpartisan organization established in 2010. It works to advance agricultural innovation, food and nutrition security, conservation, and rural economic development.

Arctic Blast to Bring Single-Digit Temps to Northern Plains, Freezes Deep into the South

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 15:59:12 GMT

A powerful burst of Arctic air is on the move, set to drive a dramatic temperature plunge across much of the U.S. this weekend into early next week. Meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. says this upcoming cold surge could deliver the most widespread chill of the season so far, and it’s being intensified by key factors: dry soils and dry air.

From Record Heat to Bitter Cold

Just days after record-breaking heat scorched the West , a sharp reversal is underway. A surge of frigid air straight from the Arctic is diving south, bringing widespread frost and freezing conditions well beyond the northern states.

According to Lerner: “Temperatures below freezing could stretch all the way down to the Delta,” with single-digit lows possible in parts of the northern Plains and teens across the upper Midwest.

“This is an air mass that’s coming straight from the Arctic,” Lerner explains. “And when that kind of air travels over dry land, especially with the drought conditions we have across the Plains and Canadian Prairies, there’s nothing to moderate it. The cold becomes even more intense.”

That blast will drop temperatures well below normal across the central and eastern U.S., with freezing temperatures stretching all the way down to the Delta by Monday morning.

(Drew Lerner )

Dry Soils Make Cold Air Colder

The ongoing drought, reflected in the latest U.S. Drought Monitor , is playing a major role in how extreme the cold feels. Without moisture in the soil or atmosphere to absorb and hold heat, temperatures swing dramatically — soaring well above normal ahead of a front, then crashing well below normal once Arctic air settles in.

“The dry bias we have right now isn’t going to change when that cold air arrives,” Lerner notes. “So we’re going to see temperatures just plummet.”

That means agriculture producers, particularly in the Southern and Eastern states, need to be on alert. Lerner expects frost and freezes to reach as far east as the Carolinas and Georgia, potentially stressing late-season crops and winter wheat stands that haven’t fully hardened off.

While this particular cold surge may only last a few days, Lerner says it’s part of a larger pattern that will repeat through winter — alternating bursts of warmth and cold, driven by La Niña and jet stream fluctuations.

(Drew Lerner )

A Pattern That Could Repeat

While this cold snap will be short-lived, Lerner warns it’s likely a preview of what’s to come this winter. He expects the pattern of alternating warm and cold spells to persist, driven by La Niña and the configuration of the jet stream.

“This is something we’re going to see periodically over the winter,” Lerner says. “We’ll get these big bursts of cold air into the eastern U.S., followed by warmer intervals that bring storminess to the Pacific Northwest and the central Rockies.”

Those intermittent storms might deliver some much-needed moisture to the upper Midwest, but much of the central and southwestern Plains is expected to remain drier than normal through at least early winter.

What Farmers Can Expect

Coldest Morning: Monday, with single digits in the northern Plains and lows near freezing across the Deep South.
Freeze Risk: Frost and light freezes likely as far east as the Carolinas and Georgia.
Moisture Outlook: Continued dryness in the central U.S. under La Niña.
Pattern Ahead: More frequent cold surges alternating with warm, stormy spells in the West.

Looking Ahead

Lerner suggests producers might need to wait until January or February before seeing any meaningful change in the moisture pattern. Until then, temperature swings will be the norm — and the upcoming Arctic outbreak will be a sharp reminder that winter is knocking at the door.

“I’m not ready for single digits either,” Lerner adds with a laugh.

Two Essential Factors For Preserving Corn & Soybean Quality In On-Farm Storage

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 21:17:52 GMT

As harvest finishes up, a high-stakes management process is getting underway inside countless on-farm grain bins. Farmers are working to keep corn and soybean crops in good condition until marketing opportunities hopefully improve.

Two key factors farmers will need to manage throughout the months ahead are temperature and moisture. Here is a number of recommendations Extension specialist offer to help growers in the process:

Temperature: A Guardian Of Grain Quality
Managing temperature in the bin is a cornerstone of effective grain storage. By carefully managing temperature levels, Ken Hellevang says farmers can significantly extend the quality of their stored grain and minimize the chance for incurring losses over winter.

“I like to say that for every 10 degrees that we cool the grain, we double the storage life,” notes Hellevang, emeritus professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering at North Dakota State University.

According to Iowa State University Extension , the ideal temperature range for storing grain during winter is between 30° F and 40° F.

If grain drops below 30° F, the risk of freezing and forming large chunks increases, which can cause problems when trying to empty the bin later, adds Reagan Tibbs , University of Illinois Commercial Agriculture Educator.

Monitoring and managing the grain temperature is a critical piece of grain storage, emphasizes Hellevang, who addressed the topic on a recent Crop Science Podcast Show .

He says maintaining an optimal temperature offers a couple of critical benefits:
1. Spoilage prevention: Hellevang says temperature variations within the grain mass can create convection currents, leading to moisture migration and spoilage. Consistent temperature control helps maintain grain quality by minimizing the risks associated with moisture buildup and heat retention.

2. Insect control: Most insect activity significantly decreases below 55°F, and insects typically enter dormancy at temperatures below 50°F, Hellevang says.

“For those farmers in the northern country, where we have cold temperatures, if we bring the temperature down to freezing or even a little below that, we can actually kill insects,” he adds.

Aeration should be done routinely throughout the winter to maintain cool and even temperatures in the bin, according to Iowa State University Extension . Uneven temperatures in the grain bin can occur when the grain mass isn’t cool enough going into winter, resulting in cooler grain along the bin walls and warmer grain in the core. This temperature difference can cause convection currents that deposit moisture on the grain surface, causing spoilage and crusting.

Other reasons for uneven temperatures in the bin include solar heating of grain under the roof and along the bin walls, as well as heating from insect and mold activity. Iowa State recommends leveling the grain surface to improve aeration and prevent issues caused by accumulated fines by spreading grain or coring the bin .

University of Minnesota Extension recommends covering fans when they are off to prevent severe weather and temperature changes from affecting the bin. Covers made of canvas, tarp, or even plywood can be used for this purpose.

Moisture Management Is Essential
Hellevang likes to remind farmers that there’s a difference between market moisture and storage moisture.

For corn, he says the market moisture is about 15.5%. But corn going into long-term storage, at or beyond 6 months, needs to be maintained at 13% to 14% moisture.

“We also need to be a little concerned about not getting grain too dry, because the drier it gets, the more brittle it becomes, and we see more breakage issues,” he says, adding: “The market really doesn’t reward you for bringing in 10% moisture corn. They’d like to be handling that 13%, 14% moisture corn.”

Hellevang adds that every region of the country is a “little different” on what they find are ideal moisture levels for grain in storage.

As part of maintaining ideal temperature and moisture levels, Tibbs tells farmers to keep an eye on potential moisture migration in the bin.

“What can happen is when the temperature difference between the outside and inside the grain bin exceeds 20° F, the moisture content in the bin can increase toward the top. That raises the risk of grain crusting, which can reduce grain quality and pose safety concerns when checking bins,” Tibbs explains.

Monitor Grain Throughout The Storage Period
Hellevang suggests checking stored grain every two weeks. While checking on the grain, measure and record the grain temperature and moisture content. Rising grain temperature may indicate insect or mold problems. Insect infestations can increase from being barely noticeable to major infestations in three to four weeks when the grain is warm, he adds.

Checking the grain moisture content is important because moisture measurements at harvest may have been in error due to moisture gradients in the kernel, grain temperature, and other factors. When checking the moisture content of stored grain, Hellevang advises following the manufacturer’s procedure for obtaining an accurate moisture measurement.

Your next read: Anhydrous Ammonia: One Small Mistake Can Have Life-Changing Consequences

Unpacking the Disappointment: 5 Reasons Some Iowa Growers Had Ho-Hum Corn Yields

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 22:43:59 GMT

A growing season that started with tremendous potential in east-central Iowa finished with yield results that left many growers in the area disappointed by average or below-average results, according to Agronomist Nicole Stecklein.

Stecklein details five key factors she believes contributed to disappointing 2025 yield results. Here are her key takeaways from this season as well as some recommendations for 2026.

1. A ‘planting date effect’ occurred: Stecklein says she is an early-plant advocate and likes to see farmers start planting when the soil is fit and a good weather forecast is in the cards.

“In eight years out of 10 years, that usually turns out pretty good. In a lot of cases, the early planted corn will be your best corn, but that wasn’t the case this year,” she says.

Early-planted corn, particularly those hybrids in early to mid-maturities, generally underperformed.

Stecklein identified two main culprits. First, there was considerable localized soil crusting. Even with rotary hoeing, significant variability in ear development and inconsistent pollination impacted the crop and contributed to yield loss.

A second culprit was that the earlier planted corn seemed to bear the brunt of later-season stresses, particularly from disease issues, heavy moisture and above-average temperatures.

Too much rain and disease were problems for Ward Hunter, Ogden, Iowa, especially southern rust. He told U.S. Farm Report’s Tyne Morgan that his early corn hybrid yields were disappointing, coming in at around 220 bu. per acre, even though he applied a fungicide.

“We were at about our APH,” he says. “If it hadn’t been for disease pressure, I think we could have been in the 270s or so [with early maturing hybrids] here in central Iowa.”

FBN Poll Results: This week's poll, with over 1,700 responses, shows 50% of participating FBN members seeing corn yields below expectations. Review the full results and share your thoughts: https://t.co/37lji8uYSc #farmersfirst #harvest25 #corn pic.twitter.com/LoijKZGnJ5
— FBN (@FBNFarmers) October 31, 2025

For farmers wondering if they should move to later planting dates across the baord in 2026, Stecklein says probably not. Instead, she says to continue to evaluate soils and weather conditions at planting.

Ken Ferrie offers similar advice to farmers in central Iowa and central Illinois. “My advice for farmers is if we have a green light in April, plant some corn,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

However, Ferrie says farmers shouldn’t be afraid to wait until May to get a green light from Mother Nature to start the planting process.

“We never know how the rest of the year will play out. So, breaking the planting window up is a good way to mitigate risk and take the jam out of the fall of having everything ready at the same time,” he explains.

2. High winds were a blow to corn performance: June brought a series of severe high-wind events to large swaths of east-central Iowa.

The damage manifested in root lodging, green snap, and willowing. Corn that had already tasseled before the winds hit fared better, thanks to better developed root systems and brace roots, Stecklein reports.

Conversely, corn that had not yet tasseled suffered the most severe root lodging and green snap, as its rapidly growing, brittle nodes were highly susceptible.

Willowing, which occurs where corn plants bend at the waist, proved to be a stealthy yield robber this summer. The stress from bending, particularly around the developing ear node, led to poorly pollinated ears with short husks, leaving grain exposed to elements, birds and disease, significantly impacting quality and yield.

Tons of sub 150 corn in our area. Harrison and Pottawattamie county Iowa. Too much wind/greensnap and too much diesese. It’s the crop that never was.
— Brandon Clark (@clarkbrandon44) November 3, 2025

While wind is an unavoidable reality across the state, Stecklein would advise farmers in consistently windy areas to consider prioritizing root and green snap scores when selecting hybrids for 2026.

“This is not a foolproof way to get around the wind. It’s just knowing that some hybrids have a lower possibility of getting hit by wind in a window when they’re vulnerable, because all corn is vulnerable. The wind is all about timing. But if you shorten that window, then you’re decreasing the chances that you’ll get hit at a vulnerable time,” she explains.

3. Heat took a bite out of yield potential. Another major factor impacting 2025 yields in east-central Iowa was the pervasive overnight heat during grain fill, specifically in July and August.

Stecklein says the general rule of thumb is for each night during grain fill that temperatures stay at 70 degrees Fahrenheit or above, your corn crop will experience about a 1% yield loss in each 24-hour period.

What happens is the result of a lack of equilibrium between the process of photosynthesis during the day and then respiration at night.

“During the day, the plant is taking sunlight and carbon dioxide and making sugars. It’s creating energy,” Stecklein explains. “Overnight, you have respiration occurring. Respiration is using energy to repair cells, And the rate of these processes is very temperature dependent.”

When nighttime temperatures remain high, the rate of respiration dramatically increases. This means the plant burns through its energy reserves much faster.

Stecklein says that in July and August, parts of east-central Iowa had 15 nights that stayed at 70 degrees or greater.

“If you’re good at math, that means a 15% yield loss. If you had 300 bushels to lose at tassel, that brings you straight down to 255, bushels, just based on overnight temperatures,” she says.

4. Disease pressure reached unprecedented levels for some farmers. The big gorilla this season was southern rust, which took most Iowa farmers by surprise.

”Southern rust is the one that everybody is talking about, because it’s so aggressive and because, honestly, in Iowa, we were not prepared for how aggressive it was going to be,” Stecklein says.

Unlike tar spot, southern rust is not a disease that overwinters in residue. It must “blow in” from the South, and it also needs corn to infect to complete its life cycle. For those reasons, Stecklein would advise Iowa farmers to not make hybrid decisions for next year based on concerns for southern rust.

However, she would advise them to take tar spot into consideration as they evaluate which hybrids to plant in 2026.

“If you are going to spray [a fungicide], you’re going to be OK if you do choose a hybrid that’s susceptible, because there are some very good hybrids out there that aren’t super tolerant to tar spot. Make sure that you’re planning on at least making one fungicide pass at tassel. But if you will not spray two passes of fungicide, do not choose a hybrid that has a very poor tar spot rating, because if we get the weather that’s very conducive to tar spot, you’re going to lose some bushels,” she adds.

5. Phantom yield loss showed up at harvest. Based on phantom yield loss data, Stecklein says there’s about 2 bushels lost per percent of moisture. How that translates into a yield loss: if you like to harvest at 22% moisture but the crop is at 16% moisture when you finally combine it, you’re looking at a loss of 12 bushels per acre.

If you find yourself consistently harvesting corn at a drier level than you want, Stecklein would say it’s time to adjust your hybrid maturities. If phantom yield loss isn’t a consistent issue you face, then you’re probably OK to stick with your current maturities.

Her final advice for 2026: “I keep wanting to say that every year I learn something unique, but at the end of the day, my key takeaways from every year have almost always been the same: if you plan for failure and if you give up, you’re going to be met with failure. However, if you are persistent through hardships and manage according to those hardships, you’re setting yourself up for success.”

Watch Stecklein’s recent video, Corn 2025: What happened , for more insights on the east-central Iowa corn results.

Ferrie: Why Your Corn Crop Could Be Drying Slowly This Fall

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 19:06:05 GMT

While some Illinois corn growers are heading into harvest early, others are telling Ken Ferrie their corn is drying slowly in the field – they’re seeing moisture levels drop only one point per week.

The rule of thumb historically is that mature corn that dies after reaching black layer will dry in the field at a rate of 0.5% to 1.0% per day in September, and then 0.25% to 0.5% per day in October, according to Iowa State University Extension .

Generally, it takes about 30 GDDs to lower grain moisture each point from 30% down to 25%. Drying from 25% to 20% percent requires about 45 GDDs per point of moisture, according to Peter Thomison, Ohio State University retired Extension state specialist for corn production.

But many agronomic factors come into play that influence dry down, including genetics, delayed planting, nutrient use, weather conditions — especially temperature, humidity, and rainfall — and disease issues.

Reaching Black Layer Prematurely Plays A Role

One reason for a slow drydown process in some fields is a result of the crop dying prematurely.

Premature corn death occurred in parts of the Midwest crop and for multiple reasons. In dry and droughty areas of Illinois, farmers saw high heat kill their corn crop prior to black layer. Likewise, Ferrie says many Iowa and Minnesota growers had corn that died before black layer due to southern rust and other disease pressure – even where the crop had adequate water.

“Corn that dies before black layer from dry weather, high heat or disease pressure can dry down slower,” says Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, in this week’s Boots In The Field podcast.

The damage caused by adverse weather or disease can cause the plants to reach physiological maturity (black layer) prematurely, leading to poor dry-down and higher grain moisture, according to Purdue University corn specialists in an online article.

“When it comes to corn that dies pre black layer, you are at the mercy of God’s corn dryer,” says Ferrie, who encourages farmers to keep checking corn moisture levels and stalk quality to determine when to start harvest.

He offers three additional recommendations:

1. Don’t forget to calibrate combine yield monitors. “We need good, calibrated maps for when we analyze this crop at your yield map meetings this winter,” Ferrie says. “What these maps will teach us is invaluable in helping us shape our plans going forward, especially for you guys that are on the high-res program.”

2. Stay on top of harvest losses. Dry crops will mean more header loss for both corn and beans. “The tip pullback we’re seeing in [central Illinois] corn means we’re going to have to work a little harder to get this stuff off the cob. So keep a close eye on your thrashing losses,” he says.

3. Be proactive with your soybean harvest. “If they’re testing but cutting tough, keep grinding them out at that higher moisture. Don’t let that get away from you,” Ferrie says. “If you can knock beans out of the pod and they’re testing, even though that combine’s groaning, keep going as these moistures drop.”

Ferrie gives an update on yields he’s seeing across Illinois in this week’s Boots In The Field podcast here:

Drought Conditions Intensify Threat Of Field And Combine Fires

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 19:56:58 GMT

High temperatures and low humidity across the eastern and western Corn Belt this past week have increased the risks for field and combine fires as harvest ramps up across the country.

With the dry conditions, Ken Ferrie encourages everyone to have plans A and B in place, ready to implement if fire occurs.

“If your plan A is to call the fire department, remember, in rural America, most of our great volunteer firemen are running their own combines, so response time is a challenge,” he says.

While Ferrie believes you – or someone on your team – needs to call the fire department or 911 to get help, he says to consider making containment your Plan A.

In the case of a field fire, keep a tillage tool or spray tender nearby. “Have it in the field with you ready to go,” he advises.

Crops that are extremely dry coupled with even a bit of wind can set up a fast-moving scenario you need to snuff out quickly. Time is of the essence, as a fire can double in size within a mere minute or two.

“That situation won’t wait for you to go home, find a tractor, dig out a tillage tool or stick a hose in your spray tender and get to your field,” Ferrie says. “You won’t have the time to do that.”

A fully engulfed corn crib fire spread to nearby fields in Foosland this Friday.
📸: Mackenzie Wichtnerhttps://t.co/XkFERxHVf6 pic.twitter.com/1sG1uVVlMW
— WICS ABC 20 (@wics_abc20) September 19, 2025

In case of a combine fire, turn off the engine, get away from the machine, and phone for help.

Then, attack with fire extinguishers if it is safe to do so, advises Joshua Michel, Iowa State University field agronomist, in an online article .

“Try to fight from the ‘black,’ the area already burned,” Michel says. “Attacking a fire from areas with combustibles (e.g. dry corn stalks) is much riskier. Always stay upwind of a fire to minimize the risk of exposure from smoke, heat and possible flames.”

Keeping a shovel on the combine to throw dirt on a fire can also help.

Five Practical Steps To Be Ready For A Fire

Here are five additional things you can do to address a fire or prevent one from occurring this harvest:

1. As you combine fields, Ferrie says to keep in mind the wind direction. “Combine downwind, if possible, on windy days so if we have a combine fire it burns away from the crop,” he advises.

2. Have a daily maintenance plan for your equipment, including blowing off chaff and debris, properly lubricating chains/bearings, and cleaning up spills, advises Ohio State University Extension (OSU).

“The majority of harvester fires start in the engine compartment. Contributing factors for heat sources include faulty wiring, over-heated bearings, leaking fuel or hydraulic oil,” report Wayne Dellinger and Dee Jepsen at OSU, in this online article .

3. Have two ABC-rated fire extinguishers on hand. Keep a smaller 10-pound unit in the cab and a larger 20-pound extinguisher at ground level on the combine. Keeping an extra fire extinguisher on other pieces of machinery or trucks that are out in the field is also a good idea.

4. Invert the fire extinguisher once or twice during the season to ensure that machine vibrations don’t compact the powder inside.

5. Review your fire emergency plan with family and employees. As part of that, create a list with the 911 addresses for each of your field locations prior to harvest and have them easily accessible to family members and farm employees, Michel encourages. When a fire is called in with a 911 address, dispatch can more readily identify the incident location and relay this information to the fire department. This can save precious time as some fields may be in remote locations.

Your next read: 5 Critical Insights From The Southern Rust Rampage In Midwest Corn

5 Critical Insights From The Southern Rust Rampage In Midwest Corn

Tue, 16 Sep 2025 17:48:29 GMT

Northeast Iowa farmer Elliott Henderson sprayed a fungicide on part of his corn crop three times this season and nearly all of his crop twice, battling to break the chokehold of southern rust in his fields.

Henderson, who farms in Buchanan County, wasn’t alone in his struggle to contain the disease. Iowa State University (ISU) Extension estimates southern rust reached all 99 counties in the state.

Most corn growers were aware of the disease but hadn’t experienced the ruthless destruction it could cause.

For many, that changed this season.

The farmers Henderson routinely connects with are finding extreme yield losses now, as they start combining a corn crop that in many cases dried down and died prematurely. What occurred is common to southern rust – the disease pustules ruptured corn leaf surfaces, making it hard for plants to retain or regulate moisture.

“I made some calls around to see what guys are getting, and yields are down. I mean, we’re talking 30 to 60 bushels,” says Henderson. “We’re seeing guys with a 240-bushel APH, and they’re talking 180-bushel corn.”

An update on this field. The kernels are many but extremely small. The cob is almost rubbery. One ear doesn’t tell the full story, but this field did not handle southern rust well. #ISUCrops https://t.co/QDDtBWHa0r pic.twitter.com/fiYUboKN1E
— Meaghan Anderson (@mjanders1) September 12, 2025

Yield losses of up to 45% can occur from southern rust in severe cases, according to the Crop Protection Network (CPN).

Along with the yield loss, Iowa test weights are also taking a hit and could result in lower prices for growers. The official minimum test weight in the U.S. for No. 1 yellow corn is 56 lbs. per bushel and for No. 2 yellow corn is 54 lbs. per bushel, according to Purdue University Extension.

Henderson says he’s hearing farmers share test weight numbers well below those.

“We’re seeing lows in the 40s, some upper 40s, so it’s definitely being affected,” he says.

A Perfect Storm Of Disease Pressure
Plant health issues were the biggest challenge many corn growers in the Midwest encountered this season, Randy Dowdy contends.

“It was not a pollination issue. It was not a kernel development issue. We didn’t see the tight tassel wrap. It was disease pressure — that was by far the limiting factor for growers this year,” says Dowdy.

When he participated in the Pro Farmer Crop Tour in mid-August, Dowdy says he saw corn crops from Ohio to Iowa that were affected by multiple diseases. The four main ones were southern rust, gray leaf spot, northern corn leaf blight and tar spot — sometimes all four were on the same leaf in Iowa.

“Those growers that sprayed and stayed on it and understood that a fungicide couldn’t last but for 21 days at best, and made multiple applications, I think they’re going to reap the benefits,” says Dowdy in this week’s Breaking Barriers With R&D podcast.

You can watch this episode of the podcast on YouTube: Breaking Barriers with R&D: Late-Season Wins and Soil-First Strategies

The Crop Protection Network map shows where southern rust was confirmed in counties across the U.S. as of September 16. Notice how far north the disease traveled in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

(CPN)

Both Dowdy and David Hula, business partners in Total Acre , lament that many Midwest growers didn’t take a cue from their southern brethren and spray fungicides multiple times this season.

“Industry, in general, says if you spray at VT or tassel time, you can get by with one time. That is mostly accurate under a normal weather year,” Hula says. “But this year [some Midwest states] just had that explosion of southern rust, so they were dealing with a disease that’s historically not been a problem. You just had the environment for it.”

With growers beginning to plan what to do next season, Dowdy and Hula spent some time this week considering how growers can build an effective agronomic management plan for 2026.

Here are five of their key takeaways:

1. Formalize a plan to address disease (and pests, too).

“You have to stay proactive with your scouting and be willing to go with earlier fungicide or multiple applications, depending on what shows up,” Hula says.

In the process of being prepared to make multiple applications, keep in mind that you might not need all of them. While tar spot overwinters in stubble, southern rust doesn’t. The latter might not be a severe problem next season, as it is blows in from warmer climes.

Dowdy believes the weather system bringing southern rust to the Midwest this season originated in the Delta.

2025 Colfax County Nebraska Crop Tour results: 12 dryland fields, 207.5 bu. 2nd highest yield on record (2021 was 214). Stands were slightly lower than expected. Tar Spot lighter than expected. Southern Rust probably will reduce this yield. #25croptour pic.twitter.com/72VZCFMdZQ
— Chris Clausen (@ChrisClausen34) September 11, 2025

“Let’s face it, the incubator for you was the fact that you were wet and then had high, nighttime temperatures. It was hot, and you had corn everywhere, and you had a perfect environment,” he says.

Henderson agrees, noting moisture at the wrong time and too much heat were factors.

“We had a lot of heat right after pollination into that blister stage. We were stacking GDUs up really fast on that early-planted corn,” he recalls. “I do think some of this later planted corn is probably going to have a better experience finishing out.”

2. Work with like-minded farmers, agronomists and industry experts.

Be aware of disease pressure that is around you or headed in your direction by tapping into a local agronomist or groups such as the Crop Protection Network, and stay abreast of what’s happening in other regions.

“Everybody here is on pins and needles about southern rust every season, and we are constantly getting feedback from county [Extension] agents and industry, who are pushing the information out to the farmer, because everybody is well aware of the ramifications of southern rust,” Dowdy says.

Henderson, who works with Dowdy and Hula via their Total Acre program, also has a network of farmers in Iowa that he connects with on a regular basis.

“It’s a network of dozens of us farmers that call each other, bounce ideas off each other,” he says. “The things we’re talking about are often time-sensitive. It can be a daily thing.”

3. Understand how to use fungicides for maximum ROI, if you have given them little consideration in the past.

“It’s all about coverage,” Dowdy says. “Drone applications can be fine, but no matter what you do, if a guy is spraying two to three gallons, and you compare it to a ground rig spraying 15 to 25 gallons, I mean, there’s just no comparison in that coverage.”

Another aspect of coverage, Hula adds, is making sure the fungicide gets into the plant canopy far enough to have the desired effect.

“Fungicides have a tendency to work from the leaf they’ve come in contact with and move up,” Hula says. “So, if you’re trying to protect at least that ear leaf – and I like to protect the leaf opposite and below the ear – you’ve got to get penetration with that product.”

For a drone application, Hula says growers might have to spend a couple extra dollars to get sufficient volume for the product to get down below the canopy.

“If that’s what needs to be done, let’s do it,” he encourages. “If I’m spending $30 or more an acre, then I want to at least have the success that I’m paying for.”

4. Use products labelled for the disease issue you face.

That sounds like a no brainer, but in the heat of battle the wrong product can get applied, or you can select a product that isn’t up to the task.

With a tough disease like southern rust or tar spot, using newer chemistries with more than one active ingredient is also a plus.

5. Stay with your crop throughout the season; don’t walk away.

Today’s corn genetics tend to have more back-end potential to add yield through kernel fill.

It’s a key reason to evaluate what a fungicide application can do for a crop that’s advanced into one of the later reproductive stages, say Hula and Dowdy.

Brian Herbek, who farms near DeWeese, Neb., has leaned into their advice the past few years.

“I found out a couple of years ago, there’s a lot of hidden yield out there that a lot of us leave on the table,” Herbek reports.

What he learned from Hula and Dowdy is corn has the genetic ability – some hybrids more so than others – to pack starch into its kernels late-season to create higher test weights.

He scouts corn late-season to decide where to make “the finishing pass,” an application of fungicide or nutrients or some combination of the two.

“It’s not for every field. I’ll tell everybody that right now, there are certain fields that don’t deserve that attention,” Herbek says. “But if you know what you’re looking for, and you have that potential, that application does makes sense, but you’ve really got to know what’s out in your field.”

Dowdy and Hula share additional thoughts on how farmers can improve next season’s corn crop in the face of disease pressure in the latest edition of their Breaking Barriers With R&D podcast on Farm Journal TV and YouTube .

More ideas and recommendations are available from the two corn yield champions on the Tuesday morning edition of AgriTalk with Host Chip Flory. Catch their discussion here:

Your next read: Farmer Finds A Silver Bullet For High Corn Yields

Focus On Stalk Quality To Maximize Harvest Results

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 18:36:33 GMT

As Caleb Hamer evaluated his corn last weekend, he says the crop looked like it flipped a switch and decided it was done growing for the season.

“Between the southern rust, some tar spot, and I think the heat, that’s all pushed stuff along. I think the corn shut down probably sooner than need be, which is slightly alarming,” says Hamer, who farms in northeast Iowa.

Severe foliar disease can weaken corn stalks.

Test stalks using the pinch test and prioritize harvest for that field if 10 percent or more stalk rot.

Ask local Extension for more info. @alisonrISU @DTelenko @MandyBish1 @maddishires @MartinChilvers1 @badgercropdoc @tjcksn… pic.twitter.com/qz24gae8aM
— Crop Protection Network (@CropNetwork) September 3, 2025

Farmers Adjust Corn Yield Expectations
Some combination of extreme disease pressure, moisture at the wrong times and too much heat are factors likely to pull some states’ corn yield averages down from USDA’s August 12 WASDE report, which made a record 188.8 bushels per acre average yield projection.

Hamer says he has already adjusted yield expectations for his corn crop.

“I kind of had us shooting for some sort of single digit percentage over last year, and last year was a really good crop in our area. Now I’m hoping we’ll be on par with last year, but I don’t think we’re going to beat it at this point,” Hamer told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory. “I think a lot of that’s related to how fast the crop matured in August, because you’d like it to be slow, not fast in August.”

1/ #Illinois crop progress and condition, for the week ending Sept. 7:

- #Corn condition: 53% good-to-excellent (down 2% from last week)
- Corn dented: 87% (up from 72%)
- Corn mature: 27% (up from 15%)
- Corn #harvested: 2%https://t.co/Sqv7OB25Ou pic.twitter.com/4wwFi9wIZF
— FarmPolicy (@FarmPolicy) September 9, 2025

The fast maturation underway means a lot of corn in the Midwest, especially in parts of Iowa and Illinois, had a more shallow kernel fill than desired which will result in lower yields, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

“I still expect an average crop in Illinois, but not the bin buster we thought was possible early on this season,” he says.

Bloomberg's #corn and #soybeans crop production survey for the September WASDE report on Friday, 9/12. Corn yield estimated at 186.0 bpa and soybeans at 53.2 bpa. Good luck!!! pic.twitter.com/jbVnlt4v62
— HTS Commodities (@HTSCommodities) September 8, 2025

Make A Harvest Plan For Each Field
Ferrie says some central Illinois fields were caught in wind events last week and corn went down, and fields were also plagued by foliar disease pressure in much of the state.

Iowa fields have also been hit hard by foliar disease, especially southern rust, according to Alison Robertson, Iowa State University Extension field crops pathologist. What she says commonly happens is when severe leaf disease impacts corn plants, they remove carbohydrates from the stalk and roots in order to fill kernels in the ears.

“That leads to stalk rots, which leads to poor standability,” Robertson explains “If you have a field that has shut down, you will need to get into that field and harvest early.”

The severity of southern rust across Iowa this summer has Robertson thinking corn yield losses could reach up to 30% in those fields where no fungicide was applied. She discussed the issue on Monday with Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk. Listen to their discussion here:

Ferrie offers advice similar to Robertson’s. “Put these fields high on your harvest list to get corn out before the plants go down anymore and ear molds set in. Spend a little money on dryer gas and keep the harvest loss as low as possible,” he says.

Kentucky farmer Ryan Bivens says he is trying to stay positive despite seeing much of his corn crop die prematurely from a combination of foliar disease and too much heat.

“We’re probably 25%, 30% off our yield expectations, so it’s really tough out here,” says Bivens, who farms south of Louisville. “I’ve said all along, if we can come out of this year with 150- to 160-bushel yield, which is substantially lower than our APH, I think we better be happy.”

We’ve been shelling corn for a few days. Yields are 20% off last year across the board. pic.twitter.com/tXRCw9vZpc
— Eric Schwenke (@erschwenke) September 8, 2025

As farmers evaluate and prioritize fields for harvest, Missy Bauer recommends three steps that can help you in the process:

1. Split stalks open to gauge stalk health.
“When you split stalks open this time of the year, we should still see some integrity down in these stalks,” says Bauer, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. “If the stalk is cannibalized, and has a Styrofoam appearance, there’s little to no integrity left in the stalks.”

2. Do the pinch test. Pinch the stalk at one of the lowest two internodes with your thumb and fingers. If the pressure causes the stalk to collapse, it fails the pinch test, and that field needs to be toward the top of your harvest calendar.

3. Try the push test.
Another way to evaluate stalk integrity is with the push test. “You grab the plant right about the height of the ear, and extend the stalk over toward the other row a full arm length,” says Bauer.

If the stalk snaps off, or stays leaning over, then you know you have a greater potential for down corn in that field. Again, move that field toward the top of your harvest list.

For your planning purposes, here’s a summary of harvest considerations from Pioneer:

When prioritizing fields for harvest:
· Estimate corn yield. The Pioneer Corn Yield Estimator or the Yield Estimator in the Granular Mobile app provides quick, in-field yield estimates

Manually estimating corn yield:
· Measure one one-thousandth of an acre
· Count harvestable ears
· Determine average kernels per row (avoid tip kernels)
· Count kernel rows per ear
· Calculate: Estimated yield (bu/ac) = (ears × kernel rows × kernels per row)/90 — Example: (32×16×28)/90 ≈ 159 bu/ac

Assess stalk strength:
· Scout 2–3 weeks before harvest and use the push test; harvest weaker fields first to reduce lodging risk
· Check ear molds and calibrate monitors
· Watch for mold issues, especially in corn-on-corn or high-population fields

Calibrate yield monitors and re-check periodically during harvest.

Identify disease, insect and weather stress:
· Flag stressed fields and move them up in the harvest sequence

Operational tips:
· Consider starting at 20–25% grain moisture to spread workload and reduce field and standability risk
· After harvest, review the season’s performance to inform next season’s hybrid selection

Your next read: Corn Market Resilience Continues

Frost Forecast Threatens Corn And Soybeans This Week

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 11:32:47 GMT

Frost isn’t a four-letter word, but it sure seems like one at this point in the growing season, when corn and soybeans are packing on starch and finalizing yield.

Brett Walts, meteorologist with BAMWX.com, predicts a potential frost for multiple days now for parts of the north-central U.S. and southern Canada. He says this is the earliest he has ever forecast freezing temperatures.

“Much of North Dakota is under that risk, and northern parts of Minnesota as well. For central Wisconsin I wouldn’t 100% roll out the risk in outlying and low-lying areas, even into parts of South Dakota and southern Minnesota,” Walts tells Chip Flory, host of AgriTalk.

We continued to be concern about frost risks in the N. Plains and Upper-Midwest later this week into the weekend.

Latest blend forecast for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday indicate multi-day risk and *typically* these trend cooler with time. pic.twitter.com/rarcKEGgCK
— BAM Weather (@bam_weather) September 2, 2025

A corn-killing freeze occurs when temperatures dip to 32 degrees Fahrenheit for four hours or 28 degrees for minutes, according to an online article by University of Minnesota Extension. A killing freeze can still happen with temperatures above 32, especially in low and unprotected areas when there’s no wind.

How much corn yield could be lost to freeze is tough to predict, but it could be significant, according to Troy Deutmeyer, Pioneer field agronomist.

“It is extremely difficult to predict but corn around half-milk line that dies will have yields cut around 10% according to older studies. With today’s late-season grain fill and kernel flex I feel the number is closer to 15%,” he says in a post to X. See his full comments below.

How much yield will premature death in my corn cut yield???

It is extremely difficult to predict but corn around half milk line that dies will have yields cut around 10% according to older studies. With today's late season grain fill and kernel flex I feel the number is closer… pic.twitter.com/U97lfOU6uy
— Pioneer Troy (@deutmeyer_troy) September 2, 2025

“Between the fourth [of September] and the eighth, it’s going to be pretty consistently down into the 30s and 40s for temperature lows in that region,” Walts says.

Timing-wise, Walts anticipates the frost threat is a multi-day risk, moving in by late tonight or early Thursday and staying through Sunday.

Corn Is Vulnerable In Cold, Wet Conditions

“We’d talked about how the corn crop needs some cooler temperatures, but these are not the kind of cooler temperatures we were talking about, that’s for sure – especially up in North Dakota, northern South Dakota, into central Minnesota,” Flory says.

Freeze damage in corn near Nicollet, Minn., that occurred Sept. 13, 2014. Notice how the corn leaves appear water-soaked.

(University of Minnesota Extension)

“There’s a lot of corn up there that could still benefit from a lot more growing season,” he adds “If we get into this prolonged period ofcold temperatures, even if we don’t see a frost, it can have a negative impact on the yield potential up there. No question about that.”

Walts says as the calendar moves past Sept. 10, temperatures will moderate for several days, but he doesn’t expect the warming trend to stay. Instead, he says it will be short-lived, with another cold front arriving in the same region around September 15.

Rain Could Add To The Frost Problem

Walts adds there is the likelihood that some of the areas under the frost watch could endure bouts of rain, though he anticipates they will be patchy.

“It’s going to be these messy, scattered showers and storms along these fronts,” he notes. “I would say areas that could pick up maybe more than a half an inch of rain will be across Minnesota, maybe northern parts of Iowa. But I think the further south and east you go across Illinois and Indiana, eastern Missouri, the messier that it is, and more likely some areas will be skipped over.”

Some of the skipped over regions include the far Northwest and West, both of which are likely to remain rain-free over the next week, Walts adds.

His complete forecast is available on AgriTalk here:

Your next read: Southern Rust Set To Take Big Bite Out Of Midwest Corn Crop?

Southern Rust Set To Take Big Bite Out Of Midwest Corn Crop?

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 21:06:37 GMT

If one picture is worth a thousand words, then the video Iowa farmer Dan Striegel shot last week must be worth thousands more. In the video, Striegel is shown harvesting a field of emerald-green corn enveloped in a cloud of orangish-red southern rust.

“We were just getting that field opened up, and I looked over and saw that dust boiling up out of the chopper, so I shot the video,” Striegel says.

Southern Rust? Never heard of her.
What Cheer, Iowa. USA. #pftour25 #harvest25 pic.twitter.com/tiIsUc2CHl
— Dan Striegel (@djsinseia) August 21, 2025

To date, Striegel’s video has garnered more than 48,000 views on X, formerly Twitter.

“We’re in southeast Iowa, Keokuk County, and I think the southern rust is as bad here as it is anywhere,” Striegel adds. “Every field you walk in, if you’re wearing a white T-shirt, you’ll come out of there red.”

A Red Path Of Disease Mars The Midwest

Expect to see more red T-shirt-clad farmers walking out of cornfields across the upper Midwest, based on what the Crop Protection Network (CPN) southern rust map is showing.

The CPN continually updates its online, interactive map showing the counties by state where southern rust infections are confirmed. Now, in late August, the counties look like red steppingstones. They form a checkered path from southwest Michigan through northern Illinois and Indiana, into southern Wisconsin, across all of Iowa and nearly two-thirds of the way across Nebraska. Eastern South Dakota is also lit up with a string of red counties, as are parts of southern to central Minnesota.

The amount of southern rust present in the upper Midwest is worrisome to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist. In severe cases, the disease can wipe out 45% of the yield potential in a field, according to the CPN.

“At most, one in 10 growers in northern Iowa and Minnesota have seen the kind of southern rust some of them are seeing this year,” says Ferrie, who was working last week with corn growers in both states.

“It was a problem in probably eight out of every 10 fields I was in, and they’d all been sprayed at least once,” he says. “Minnesota has a corn crop that’ll knock your socks off – yield potential of 250, 270. I encouraged every grower to spray their field a second time except for two fields. One had been knocked down by hail, and the other had a hybrid that was clean.”

I spoke with a good friend of mine from Iowa yesterday that is an agronomist and farmer. He said the southern rust in corn across Iowa and much of the Midwest will take 9 to 12 bushel/acre off corn yields on average from what his team and himself are seeing. pic.twitter.com/Ad1VJ9oQBg
— Captain Cornelius1 (@ISU145) August 26, 2025

Hybrids Have Little To No Resistance To Southern Rust

A combination of early-season moisture, heat and wind formed the perfect storm for southern rust this season, allowing the disease-causing fungal spores (Puccinia polysora) to move from southern climes up to the Midwest, according to Kurt Maertens, BASF technical service representative for eastern Iowa and western Illinois.

“We’ve seen it all – southern rust, tar spot, northern corn leaf blight, gray leaf spot. Our corn has been inundated with all these fungal diseases, and we started seeing them early,” says Maertens.

If there’s a silver lining to southern rust, it’s that it does not overwinter in corn residue like tar spot does. But like tar spot, southern rust takes advantage of hybrids that have no built-in resistance. For many growers, that was an Achilles heel this season.

“When you’re dealing with a 117-day hybrid like they grow in southern Illinois, Tennessee, and Kentucky, you don’t grow corn that doesn’t have good southern rust resistance, because they deal with it every year,” Ferrie notes. “When you move to Minnesota, and you’re planting 102- to 95-day corn, you’re probably not going to find hybrids with southern rust resistance.”

Striegel says that was true for his neighbor’s cornfield, which he custom chopped for silage. “That field had two hybrids in it, one was worse than the other, and the field had been sprayed with a fungicide,” he says.

He adds that he also sprayed his own cornfields with fungicide, but they are still inundated with southern rust.

“We’ve had southern rust before, and it’s not usually something we have to worry about, but this is really bad,” Striegel says. “I’m standing on my deck looking at the cornfield next to my house, and you know, all of the leaves from the ears down in that field are covered with it.”

Southern rust is real in eastern Nebraska. Fungicide 3 weeks ago, 2nd app today with some potassium acetate pic.twitter.com/WZubU6IBwz
— Trent Mastny (@TrentMastny) August 21, 2025

How Late Is A Fungicide Application Still Worthwhile?

Ferrie says the fields he scouted last week were at late R3 to early R4 and had already been sprayed with fungicide at least once, but the disease was rebuilding.

“Any field where farmers had sprayed two weeks previously, the southern rust and northern corn leaf blight, to a lesser degree, were coming back, especially the southern rust. It was resporating,” he says.

The intense disease pressure from southern rust, tar spot and others have kept fungicide use at high levels this season, despite poor commodity prices.

“Because of that [amount of disease pressure], we have seen increased demand for our fungicides this year,” says Maertens, who encouraged customers to get applications made at the beginning of tassel.

Maertens says he has fielded a lot of questions this summer from farmers, asking how late they could go with a fungicide application and still benefit.

“Our recommendation is to get in front of disease,” he says. “Generally, we stop applications before we get to dent (R5). That’s not to say a later application can’t have some benefit, but our best results have been before infection was able to take place.”

Southern rust is a yield enemy farmers routinely face in the Southeast, reports corn yield champion Randy Dowdy, Valdosta, Ga. He participated in the Pro Farmer Crop Tour last week and said on U.S. Farm Report he believes many Midwest farmers still have time to address disease.

“We need to implore the fungicides, the technologies out there and get after it and protect this crop, especially that crop that still has not reached dent,” he says.

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Missy Bauer likes to see farmers complete their fungicide applications on the front side of dough (early R4). “Once we get to early dent, I think it’s a little more challenging to get the payback consistently, though we’ve applied at early dent (R5), and seen a nice response,” says Bauer, who is based in south-central Michigan.

Under the tough disease pressure farmers are facing this year, Bauer is telling growers to scout fields and evaluate what growth stage their crop is in before they walk away or pull the fungicide trigger one last time.

She adds that farmers need to check the label to make sure the product used is able to address southern rust effectively. She describes these as “Cadillac” products containing the newest chemistry.

“When it comes to some of these diseases, especially southern rust and tar spot, I do believe a little bit of a Hail Mary pass can be effective,” she says. “Will it be as effective as an application you could have made on a more timely basis? Well, no, you could have made more money doing it timely, but you’re still protecting bushels and gaining ROI at the end.”

Ferrie adds that farmers might want to do the late-season fungicide application to keep their corn crop standing until they can put their harvest plan in place.

“Be doing the push test to check stalk quality,” he advises.

Southern Rust/Silage Alert!!

Southern Rust has been aggressively advancing in many fields, especially those without a fungicide treatment. In some situations the plants are shutting down prematurely and plant material is senescing rapidly.

While we typically want to get down… pic.twitter.com/aK3hGgZE19
— Pioneer Troy (@deutmeyer_troy) August 26, 2025

Striegel says some of the farmers around him are heading to fields to harvest their silage corn sooner than later, because of standability concerns. “Some of this corn got planted early, and we had a lot of heat. The crop matured quickly, and the diseases are kind of shutting it down. It’s just dying out, and guys are going to go get it,” he explains.

That’s the strategy Ferrie encourages farmers to use in regular production corn, too.

“Harvest the fields most at risk first. But if a field of corn goes down, go combine the fields where the corn is still standing and come back to that one later,” he recommends.

The reasoning is you don’t want to risk more corn going down while you’re harvesting the field of corn that already has.

“While I was driving through Iowa last week, I kept thinking that if I built corn reels to pick up down corn I’d bulk up my inventory, because I know where they’re going to get used,” Ferrie says, only half joking. “Yes, harvesting corn at 25% moisture is expensive, but down corn will kick your butt.”

Your next read: Revenge Applications: Why They Don’t Work, Cost You Money and Bushels, and Are Frankly Illegal

R5 Growth Stage Holds Hidden Yield Potential

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 16:08:48 GMT

As your corn crop turns the last corner of the 2025 growing season and heads for the finish line and harvest, there is still a lot of potential yield to be made or lost in the process.

The R5 growth stage (dent) – the next to last growth stage for corn – is one of those key times in the season where your management practices and Mother Nature’s cooperation up to that point can influence harvest outcomes.

Dan Quinn, Purdue University Extension corn specialist, explains the reason: kernel dry matter content in a corn crop at the beginning of R5 is only at roughly 45% of the eventual final accumulation.

Another way to look at that – there is still up to 55% of the kernel dry weight left to be accumulated by the crop, starch that can contribute significantly to grain fill and yield.

“Therefore, if significant environmental stress (drought, nutrient deficiency, etc.) were to occur during beginning R5, significant yield losses can still occur,” Quinn writes in this online article .

Many of the newer hybrids seed companies have developed are designed to add bushels by increasing the amount of starch in kernels, according to Ken Ferrie Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

“That’s one way we obtain yield increases without raising populations,” Ferrie says.

Keying Into The R5 Growth Stage
Michigan farmer Nathan Baker addresses the importance of R5, in his most recent video, posted to YouTube on Monday .

In the video (starting at about 24 mintues), Baker is evaluating his early-April planted corn, which is starting to reach dent (R5). Of his entire 2025 crop, he says it is the most advanced field of corn he has, noting there is some disease pressure present.

“That is northern corn leaf blight. You can see it started with a lesion here, and it has spread. There’s another one. I don’t like to see that…but there’s nothing drastic,” Baker says, pointing to some damaged areas on a corn leaf.

Baker says he used fungicide to rein-in disease pressure. In some fields, he made two applications.

(Nathan Baker)

Knowing the importance of late-season grain fill is a key reason Baker says he made the investment in applying a foliar fungicide some weeks earlier.

“That’s why it’s important that we … take care of these plants late in the season and keep packing that starch in there, giving it all the nutrients and the things that it needs. It’s why I still really, really want some rain, because we can still use it to help make this corn crop better,” he says.

Baker gives a shout out to his AgriGold agronomist, Wayde Looker, for the insights he learned about the R5 growth stage.

Look For The Milk Line In Kernels
As corn moves into the R5 stage, you can start to see a distinct line near the top of kernels, which is the milk line. This line indicates the division between the dry and liquid material in the kernel.

The R5 growth stage in corn can occur approximately 30 – 40 days following silking and is defined when nearly all kernels are ‘dented’ at the crown of the kernel and hard starch or solid endosperm has begun to form.

(Dan Quinn, Purdue University Extension Corn Specialist)

As kernels harden, the line moves from the top of the kernel down to where the base attaches to the cob. Keeping an eye on the milk line’s progression is useful to corn growers who cut crop for silage or are trying to determine when to stop irrigating. It’s also helpful for growers trying to determine how much time is left before the corn reaches maturity and will be ready to combine.

Quinn says corn moves through the early part of R5 quickly and then slows as it nears physiological maturity (R6, black layer). Overall, from the beginning of R5 to maturity is about 33 days:

3 days — from the start of R5 to the quarter milk line stage
6 days — from quarter to half milk line
10 days — from half to three-quarters milk line
14 days — from three-quarters milk line to black layer

Actual time to black layer may vary depending upon the hybrid and the environment. However, this is a guide that lets you know what to expect and help you plan for harvest, Quinn says.

Your next read: Understanding Ear Flex

Ken Ferrie: Central Illinois Corn Yields Look Close To 5-Year Average

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 17:32:32 GMT

Disease pressure is ramping up in central Illinois corn but the crops have widely varying degrees of infection, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

The biggest issues area growers are dealing with now are tar spot, southern rust and some northern leaf blight. Some farmers are responding by making a second fungicide application, while others are sitting tight, given the tough economic climate.

Understanding it’s a tough call on whether a fungicide application will pay for itself, Ferrie tells growers to stay the course with their fields and make crop evaluations so they can adjust yield expectations and marketing decisions, if need be.

“I’m out here looking at these fields every day, and each one’s kind of its own surprise,” he says.

Corn Yield Potential Is Still Solid
Ferrie recalls that last season he saw a lot of central Illinois fields come in at harvest with 300-plus bushel yields. That’s not his expectation this season, though he thinks farmers could still see an above-average crop depending on what happens during the next few weeks.

“My highest yield estimate so far this season has been 297 bushels, dividing by 80. So there’s definitely a difference in what we’re yield-checking here in central Illinois compared to a year ago,” he says.

“If we compare it to the five-year average, we’re probably going to be satisfied. If we compare it to last year, we could be disappointed,” he adds.

Check Disease Tolerance Scores By Hybrid
Where hybrids had rain in July, Ferrie is seeing tar spot explode in the ear zone. With southern rust, the disease is more scattered in fields, with some more heavily infected by the disease than others.

Matt Duesterhaus is more concerned currently with southern rust in western Illinois, where he’s based, though he expects tar spot could come on stronger in a couple of weeks. He tells farmers hybrid susceptibility needs to be a consideration in the decision whether to spray a fungicide now.

“Once we get from beginning dent into full dent, it’s pretty hard to make a fungicide pay unless you’ve got a susceptible hybrid, one that makes a lot of its yield in kernel depth. So we’ve got to pay attention to those hybrid ratings,” says Duesterhaus, field research agronomist for Crop-Tech Consulting.

He encourages farmers to check their hybrid scores for tolerance to diseases they identify in their specific fields and then weigh the decision whether to make a fungicide application now.

“The tolerance gives you a starting point on scouting,” Duesterhaus says. “Depending on the tolerance, southern rust can take down one hybrid to where you’ll be picking up [combining] down corn, versus in the next hybrid, it might only be a 10- or 20-bushel hit.”

Along with evaluating disease tolerance in hybrids, Ferrie says to consider whether your hybrids are D hybrids—those that count on depth of kernel fill to get their yield punch.

“Their depth of kernel comes at the end of grain fill — the last half of the 60 or so days after pollination through black layer,” Ferrie explains. “They need to stay green as long as possible and finish the season strong. Many new hybrids are D types.”

Check out Ferrie’s latest episode of Boots In The Field podcast for more agronomic insights and recommendations on how to finish strong this season:

Your next read: Analyst Flags Potential Overshoot in Corn Yield Estimate And Why It Matters

Gorgeous Corn Crop Masks A Tough Reality For Central Illinois Growers

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 21:01:25 GMT

For more than a decade, Jerry Gidel has done annual yield checks on corn in central Illinois – walking fields, making estimates, and evaluating how the crop is stacking up compared to those in previous years.

On Tuesday, Gidel reports field checks in seven counties that circle the community of Bloomington, Ill., indicate corn yields there are going to average 198.3 bushels per acre.

At first blush, that might sound like an OK corn crop average until you look back at the yield average he calculated for the area in 2024 – 213.7 bushels. That’s a whopping 15.4 bushels more per acre than what Gidel and scouting partner, Jack Scoville, an analyst with The Price Futures Group, found in central Illinois fields last Saturday, August 9.

Gidel and Scoville say the crop there looks big, lush and beautiful, so what gives?

“I think it had to do with high overnight temperatures, which continue to be a nemesis,” Gidel told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Tuesday.

Pollinating Corn Likes Cooler Nighttime Temps
When corn gets little to no relief at night from high daytime temps, yields tend to suffer.

“When you keep the humidity in the atmosphere, you prevent the temperature from cooling off at night. And what ends up happening is you keep those stressful night lows around. And so it’s just not ideal,” explains Eric Snodgrass, senior science fellow at Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Cooler nights (in the 60s) help to slow respiration, preserving sugars for grain development and maximizing yield, reports the Agronomic Crops Network .

Above-average nighttime temperatures were common the past few weeks in the Midwest, according to news reports on AgWeb .

What Happened In Central Illinois?
In central Illinois, the pollination issue was not only heat related, according to Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist, who is based there. Nor was it a result only from the phenomenon of overly tight tassel wrap Farm Journal has reported on extensively.

Instead, Ferrie believes wet conditions at the wrong time contributed to much of the poor pollination in corn crops around the Bloomington, Ill., area.

At pollination time, many farmers saw three or four consecutive days of heavy fog and rainfall. The moisture prevented corn pollen sacks from opening on time, essentially interrupting the pollination process, Ferrie recalls.

“It caused some significant issues with our kernel set,” says Ferrie. “I’m seeing yield losses of 15- to 40-bushel hits in affected fields.”

What Corn Stand Evaluations Show
As Gidel and Scoville scouted central Illinois corn, they saw the results of poor pollination throughout the seven counties.

“When you get in there and pull husks off the ears, we found smaller ears and a lot of tip back, and that’s really what seemed to do this crop in,” Scoville says.

“That’s how you end up getting our averages for our central Illinois tour,” adds Gidel.

Flory honed in on Gidel and Scoville’s yield estimates from three Illinois counties that show how significantly they are off this season versus last year:

Ford County: 221.5 bu/a in 2024; 207.6 this year
Iroquois County: 236 bu/a in 2024; 221.9 this year
Woodford County: 257.2 bu/a in 2024; 213.6 this year

“These three are the biggest-yielding counties you guys have seen over the past couple of years,” Flory told Gidel and Scoville. “That is a fairly consistent reduction on top-end yields from a year ago, and it certainly makes me think that that the central Illinois crop is not going to be what it was a year ago.”

Gidel agrees, noting that the highest yield he and Scoville found in central Illinois this year was 222 bushels per acre. “Last year, it was 257 bushels – so 35 bushels less is a huge difference. That definitely eliminates some of your potential,” he says.

Gidel adds what he and Scofield saw in Illinois has him concerned about what the national corn yield average will total.

“It definitely doesn’t give you [the confidence] that we’re going to see the nationwide number that some people are projecting, that 185, 187 bushels versus last year’s 179.6,” he says.

Will Pro Farmer Find The Same Yield Potential As USDA?
With USDA’s bigger than expected production estimate announced Tuesday — a record high 188.8 bushels per acre for corn and 53.6 bpa for soybeans — farmers will be analyzing Pro Farmer Crop Tour reports to see if in-field observations support or contradict the agency’s estimates.

The annual Pro Farmer Crop Tour gets underway next Monday, August 18. Scouts will be sharing reports from 2,000-plus fields across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio and South Dakota. Learn more about the event here .

Get more of the details on what Gidel and Scoville shared regarding the central Illinois corn crop with AgriTalk’s Chip Flory here:

Your next read: USDA Shocks the Market With Corn Yields

National Corn Yield Predictions Are Trending Higher Thanks To Summer Moisture

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 21:36:20 GMT

Six months ago, no one saw this coming – abundant rainfall and then some for the 2025 growing season throughout much of the Corn Belt.

“It has been six years since we’ve seen a rainfall growing season map like what we have seen for 2025,” says Brad Rippey, USDA agricultural meteorologist.

“You have to go back to 2019, which was the year of too much rain. This year, if anything, it’s just about perfect,” says Rippey, who describes this summer as “almost like a Goldilocks growing season, to date.”

(NOAA-National Weather Service)

Three Months Of Moisture, And Counting
The percent of normal precipitation in the U.S. May through July shows above-average moisture levels across key corn and soybean production areas. Many states recorded at least 90% of their normal precipitation on the low end and upwards of 150% of their normal precipitation levels on the high end.

“You have a pretty consistent pattern everywhere east of the Rockies – look at all the greens and blues on the map – pockets of wetness. Certainly, just about everybody from the Plains eastward is looking at adequate to abundant moisture,” Rippey shared with Clinton Griffiths during the U.S. Farm Report.

(USDA-NASS)

The abundant moisture is helping fuel higher corn quality levels. USDA reports the corn crop nationally is at 73% in good too excellent condition – a 5% increase over this same time in 2024.

That rating is likely to stand going into the August 12 USDA-NASS Crop Production report, which the agency will conduct by satellite imagery.

“I know corn conditions and crop conditions in general, as reported by USDA-NASS, are not the end all in the conversation. It really matters when they go out into the fields and look – but look at that Iowa number of 87% good to excellent,” Rippey says.

He believes the current stats in combination with the results from USDA’s satellite imagery reviews will drive average yield estimate numbers for corn higher.

“What they’re going to see is an awfully good-looking corn crop,” Mark Schultz, chief market analyst for Northstar Commodity, told Michelle Rook during U.S. Farm Report.

“The question gets to be, do they bump it immediately – up to 184, 185, something like that? I would say it’s probably what we’re trying to trade into the market at the present time,” Schultz says. “That appears to be where most of the privates are going to into that category. You know, they’re not going to see anything terrible, that’s for sure.”

Corn Growth Heads Into The Home Stretch
Insights from USDA data provide some perspective on just how well this year’s corn crop is shaping up as the growing season turns the corner and heads for the finish line.

(USDA-NASS)

“You have to go all the way back to 2016 to see a higher crop condition index for corn this time in the growing season,” Rippey reports.

A map showing production outcomes for nearly the past decade illustrates how 2025 ranks near the top of the pack for corn crop conditions.

“The 2015, 16, 17, 18 seasons were all above-trend yields for corn, and the only year we have been above trend since then – and just barely – was 2021,” he says.

Moisture conditions the past few years have run to the dry side, a problem many mainstream meteorologists predicted would repeat this growing season.

“We found out the hard way last year that late summer dryness can take a toll on the crop, and we did come down off of some of that yield potential,” Rippey recalls.

The two key questions now are how will the 2025 corn crop finish out the growing season, and what will Mother Nature do between now and harvest?

(NOAA National Weather Service)

According to the National Weather Service, farmers in the Eastern Corn Belt will potentially see more moisture. There are also indications below-normal rainfall and drier conditions will take root in parts of the western Corn Belt in the weeks ahead, starting sometime this month.

“But if that happens beyond the month of August, there is not going to be a significant impact on corn or soybeans,” Rippey predicts. “All indications are for bumper crops for just about everywhere in the country, except Montana and points West.”

Your next read: Funds Sell Corn and Soybeans on Weather and Record Yields

Yes, Corn Sweat is Real, But Here's Why the Humidity is So Thick This Year

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 17:13:02 GMT

In a year when most meteorologists were watching signs of drought — especially across the western half of the country — the middle of the U.S. has been inundated with moisture. It’s not just been hot, but unusually humid — even for this time of year.

Several Midwestern states are reporting a July that ranks as one of the top 10 wettest on record. Eric Snodgrass, Nutrien’s principal atmospheric scientist, says you can look to the Gulf to understand what’s been pumping all this moisture into much of the Corn Belt this year.

“We’ve had nonstop access to Gulf moisture. So, there’s just been nothing turning that off. As a result, we’d been able to just generate huge storms on plenty of moisture,” he says.

What Exactly is Corn Sweat?
The other factor that’s pumping moisture into the atmosphere is something called “corn sweat” — the process where corn plants release water vapor into the atmosphere. As the corn plant absorbs water from the soil and releases it through the pores in its leaves, the plant can cool down and transport nutrients.

“Corn sweat shows up a lot in some of the news media,” Snodgrass says. “We just can’t forget that each acre of corn can evaporate an additional 4,000 gallons of water into the atmosphere. Now, that’s not a lot, believe it or not. If you precipitate it back out onto that acre, it’s only about 0.15" deep. But the reality is we expect to see more ridge-riding storms.”

Snodgrass says last week’s rains that caused flash flooding across Iowa, Illinois and Missouri are proof of what the ridge-riding storms can do this time of year.

“We continue to see storms running the periphery of a ridge that’s going to probably live farther into the Southern Plains of the United States. But until you shut off the Gulf, we’re going have moisture coming through the country,” Snodgrass adds.

That “corn sweat” isn’t just aiding the recent ridge-riding storms. According meteorologist Ryan Maue, it’s also fueling some of the recent humidity.

At 7 pm ET, the corn fields 🌽were adding 20°F to 25°F on top of the actual temperature = heat index > 115°F 🔥

Dewpoints in the lower-80s + temperatures in 90s = insane "feels like" readings 📈 pic.twitter.com/JP89U5qXzt
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) July 28, 2025

Maue said as of 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, the corn fields were adding 20°F to 25°F on top of the actual temperature, which means it felt like 115°F outside.

Much of that is because of the dew point, which according to Maue, reached in the low ‘80s. Dew points of 80°F or higher locally aren’t unusual, but they aren’t necessarily common either. It’s that high dew point creating such heavy humidity, and it’s no coincidence those dew point levels were highest around where there’s a lot of corn.

And we just can’t forget that each acre of corn can evaporate an additional 4,000 gallons of water into the atmosphere. Now, that’s not a lot, believe it or not. If you precipitate it back out onto that acre, it’s only about 0.15" deep.

Eric Snodgrass, Nutrien

With 95 million acres of corn planted in the ground this year, along with all the recent rains, it explains why the dew points and humidity has been so high.

The good news is the Midwest is currently in peak “corn sweat” time, which means the dew point should improve soon.

However, when it comes to moisture, Snodgrass thinks this wet weather pattern could continue over the next couple of weeks.

“If you ask me, the smartest forecast going longer term is probably persistence. In other words, what have we just seen? That will keep going until there’s some big overwhelming push to shove the atmosphere in a different direction,” he says.

Things should dry out for fall harvest. To understand the possible change in the weather pattern, watch Snodgrass’ full forecast from U.S. Farm Report.

David Hula Shares Risk Management Strategy to Address Corn Pollination Challenges

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 04:22:53 GMT

As corn growers are evaluating pollination, more reports of problems resulting from the “overly tight tassel wrap” phenomenon are trickling in from farmers and agronomists, with pictures and commentary now posted to social media and various websites.

Reigning world corn yield record holder David Hula says he is seeing the issue in some Virginia fields and also hearing reports on the problem from fellow corn growers in states along the Eastern Seaboard.

“Some farmers have been walking fields thinking they’re getting plenty of rain and are going to knock it out of the yield park with this crop, but we’ve got pollination problems,” reports Hula, who’s based near Charles City, Va. “I walked a bunch of fields this past weekend to make sure I still want the plane (to fly inputs) on certain fields.” he adds.

“This isn’t happening just in Virginia, I know it’s happening in the mid-Atlantic… in Delaware and Maryland and the Carolinas. I don’t know how far West this goes…” he told Randy Dowdy on their new episode of Breaking Barriers with R&D podcast.

"Tassel wrap" showing up in WC Indiana (photos taken July 10), joining the party seen across much of the Midwest. Seems linked to hybrid, planting date, and pre-symptom temp swings. Potential pollination issues also observed ~10 days after symptoms.@PurdueAgronomy @PurdueAg pic.twitter.com/qVKDr7m1Th
— Dan Quinn (@PurdueCorn) July 21, 2025

The Culmination Of A Perfect Storm?
At this point, no one has a clear handle on how extensive the pollination problem is across the Corn Belt.

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie says he is seeing the issue occur in parts of Illinois as corn reaches about V6 or V7 up through tassel – as the crop goes through rapid growth.

“This corn is growing like crazy, putting on an inch and a half of root a day, putting on a node every three days, that type of thing. The tassel can get wrapped really tight, and usually it’s triggered by some type of stress. Your hope is that that tassel gets out of the tight wrap before pollination starts, and usually it does. But this year, we have some hybrids that are really struggling to get that done. Unfortunately, the tassels are still wrapped tight, and the silks are out and they’re waiting for that pollen.”

Mark Licht, Extension cropping systems specialist at Iowa State University, reports tassels shedding pollen while still wrapped in the flag leaf is an uncommon occurrence in Iowa and across the Corn Belt and that he has only seen it once in the past 20 or so years.

In an online article , Licht says the problem does not seem to be brand-specific but does appear to be hybrid-specific.

“We believe this may be a form of rapid growth syndrome occurring at the end of the vegetative stages, likely triggered by a combination of high temperatures, ample moisture and non-limiting nutrient availability,” he writes.

BREAKING: There are concerns about pollination issues in cornfields, particularly in the Midwest. Tassels are not emerging normally, and silks are abnormally long, potentially impacting yield. The cause is unknown, but it may be genetically related and could result in reduced… pic.twitter.com/uchasksbfb
— Cornelius Seed (@PlantItProfit) July 17, 2025

Ferrie says he has seen the issue in previous years and thinks it might be influenced partly by wide swings in temperature during a 24-hour period. “You’re up in that 85- to 90-degree range during the day, and then you crash into the 50s at night. That seems to trigger this.”

Licht is trying to get an idea of how widespread the problem is in corn. Farmers in Iowa and across the country can help him gain insights on this issue by completing his wrapped tassel questionnaire .

🌽#CropWatch25 #corn has either pollinated or is doing so now. Only potential issues reported are out of western Iowa, where the top leaf and the tassel are intertwined. Pollination impacts are unclear for now. Otherwise, corn looks good, plenty of moisture for most fields. pic.twitter.com/5a4wgyGwzL
— Karen Braun (@kannbwx) July 21, 2025

Address Silk Clippers In Compromised Corn Crops
Unfortunately, there is no counter measure farmers can take to correct or improve poor pollination.

One step Ferrie encourages impacted growers to take is to look for feeding from silk clipping pests. Japanese beetle and corn rootworm beetle species are two of the key pests he is seeing in fields feeding on silks now.

“When you’re under this much pressure to get corn pollinated, if you’ve got any beetle silk clipping going on on top of this problem, you may have to go in there and do a preemptive strike,” Ferrie says. “Clean up your silk clippers if they’re there. Aphids can be part of the problem, as well.”

Ferrie offers more insights from his perspective on what is contributing to the problem in his discussion with Farm Journal’s Tyne Morgan and Clinton Griffiths in their latest podcast.

A Good Way To Minimize Risk Next Season
Hula believes in minimizing production risks with strategic use of his corn planter, and he encourages other growers to do the same. His objective: plant hybrids with similar Comparative Relative Maturities (CRMs) – also sometimes referred to as Relative Maturity or RM – but with different flowering dates.

This is information he can usually access via seed company product catalogs or a company representative.

“Between companies, some of their CRM models or numbers are a little different, so you have to take that into account,” Hula says.

Assessing Growing Degree Units (GDUs) in the flowering process also plays a role in Hula’s hybrid selection methods.

“If I’m using the same genetic package from the same company, we’ll look for a six-day range of pollination,” he notes. “And if I’m changing companies, then we just try to find when they’re silking and come up with their best strategy. I want similar CRMs, but I’ll go with as much as two CRM differences.”

Hula usually splits his 16-row planter with two hybrids – eight rows of one hybrid and eight rows of a second hybrid – to go across the field. This year, he used three hybrids at a time in the planter.

“That helps spread out the risk, as we find some maturities are having pollination problems and others aren’t,” Hula says.
Ferrie explains that if the grower uses at least two different hybrids in the planter and the hybrids sync up at silking, growers are able to mitigate risk, “because the one hybrid pollinated the other one for you,” he says.

Hula goes into more detail on how he uses hybrid selection to mitigate production risks in Breaking Barriers With R&D. Watch it on YouTube: Breaking Barriers with R&D: Split the Planter, Split the Risk

Searing Temperatures In Store For the Week

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 20:31:32 GMT

Something is missing in eastern Nebraska that Dave Warner says is usually available in abundance – and then some – on his farm in mid-July: sunshine and dry weather conditions. Warner refuses to complain, though, given how dry his soils were at corn planting time in May. Still, he would be happy if Mother Nature would ease up on the moisture deliveries just a tad.

“We’ve had a lot of rain; in the last 30 days, we probably had 18.5 inches. We had an inch overnight again last night,” he said on Thursday. “We are inundated with moisture.”

Weather Outlook Just Ahead

Warner’s weather scenario might or might not change this weekend, given his area is on the cusp of a new forecast. It’s one meteorologists believe will deliver high temperatures and dry conditions to parts of the central Plains, the Upper Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic by Tuesday.

(NOAA)

But first, the National Weather Service (NWS) says those regions will have to endure strong to severe thunderstorms and heavy rains this weekend. Then, those regions will see a heat dome start to build.

“We are keeping a very, very close eye on a heat dome that will be building up after this weekend,” says Meteorologist Jack Van Meter. “It’s going all the way through Wednesday, bringing sweltering hot temperatures to most.”

(BAM Weather on X, formerly Twitter)

Jonathan Erdman, senior meteorologist at weather.com, says temperatures could reach dangerously high, searing levels next week. He says, in summary:

By mid-week, temperatures in the 90s will have spread from the South into the lower Midwest. By late in the week, at least some 90s are possible in the Northeast.

Parts of the South could see triple-digit highs for several days in a row, including Texas, Oklahoma, northern Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri.

Overnight lows in the middle to upper 70s will become increasingly common as the heat wave builds. That won’t allow much heat relief at night.

Michael Clark, with BAM Weather, says he has concerns about a lack of moisture in three states, in particular.

“If there’s a spot where we want to talk about there needing to be some moisture, it is Illinois, Indiana and Michigan,” he told U.S. Farm Report’s Tyne Morgan this past week. “They are running about 25% to 50% of the normal. Despite what anyone is saying right now, it needs to rain there.”

Warmer nighttime lows are not particularly ideal for corn production, notes Clark. But he offers farmers some encouragement as he evaluates the potential impact of current weather trends on yield projections.

“In my opinion, we are tracking close to three years – 2005, 2021 and 2024. In 2005 and 2021 we had above-trend yields, and 2024 was very big,” he says, adding for 2025: “Indications are the weather is doing what it needs to do for a very large crop to come from it overall.”

Your next read: Grains Surge Friday: Was it Weather and Did it Bottom the Market?

Put On Your Scouting Hat: Check for Southern Rust in Corn and White Mold in Soybeans

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:37:08 GMT

Significant disease pressure is showing up in corn and soybeans earlier this summer than what Daren Mueller saw in 2024 crops. The Iowa State University plant pathologist says the early onset of disease pressure he has seen in Iowa – southern rust in corn, and sudden death syndrome (SDS) and white mold in soybeans – is concerning.

While he is closely tracking diseases in soybeans, he says there is “worse news” about the diseases showing up in corn.

“We actually are seeing a lot of southern rust in Iowa already. That is the one thing that I’m probably the most nervous about. I think we’ve found it in six or seven counties now,” he says.

Southern rust has been confirmed in at least 14 states. In Iowa, there’s a band of the disease that stretches east to west across the state, says Daren Mueller, Iowa State University pathologist.

(Crop Protection Network)

Along with Iowa, the Crop Protection Network (CPN) has confirmed southern rust in at least 13 other states – including Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska – and a “probable” finding in Indiana.

Southern rust can be difficult to distinguish from common rust .

While both are fungal diseases that affect corn and share similar symptoms, they have distinct characteristics. Common rust tends to favor cooler, wetter conditions, while southern rust prefers warmer, humid weather.

Southern rust can also be more aggressive and potentially more yield-damaging than common rust, especially in later planted fields.

“Southern rust likes heat, and we don’t have good levels of resistance. And it can move very, very quickly through a cornfield,” Mueller told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory on Thursday. CPN reports yield losses up to 45% have been reported with severe infections.

“Last year was the first year in a long time where we really had to deal with southern rust, and we’re finding it about 10 days earlier than last year.”

The good news in Iowa, so far: the incidence (number of plants affected) and severity (area of leaf diseased) are low, adds Alison Robertson, Iowa State professor of plant pathology and microbiology in an online article she posted on Thursday.

Mueller is encouraging farmers to get out and scout for southern rust now, so they can take action to address the disease.

“In a year like this, if we catch a couple more rains like we’re supposed to in the next week or so, and this inoculum is out there, a timely fungicide application is going to be very beneficial,” he says.

The Crop Protection Network, a multi-state Extension resource, offers a new mapping tool called Crop Lookout farmers can reference to identify various diseases and their locations.

“If you just click on that, there’s a couple of hot links on that map for tar spot and southern rust. When we find new spots of disease, it’s updated in real time,” Mueller says.

Speaking of tar spot, Mueller says the disease can still take a huge toll on corn, but that farmers are learning how to deal more effectively with the disease.

“I think we’re getting more used to tar spot, and I think people aren’t panicking as much,” he says.

Soybean Diseases Showed Up Early This Season, Too

Mueller says he found SDS and white mold (also known as Sclerotinia stem rot) in soybeans in mid-July.

“That was about a month earlier than what we want,” says Mueller, who serves as the coordinator of the Iowa State integrated pest management program. “The fact that (SDS) was showing up a good month in advance, it has us a little nervous.”

SDS is most severe when soybeans are planted in cool, wet soils and has delayed emergence – conditions that were prevalent this past spring in parts of Iowa and further into the East and Southeast.

Severe SDS can result in yield losses greater than 50%, according to University of Minnesota Extension.

To address SDS, there’s no curative action farmers can take, but Mueller offers one action farmers can take to address the problem.

“You get your pad and paper out and you take notes in the field. Record what varieties you selected, what seed treatments you put down. That’s all valuable information for the next time you plant soybeans,” he says.

This is an important action because key soybean planting states, like Iowa, have had three or more years of fairly dry weather in the latter half of the summer, so crop advisers and farmers have little data on which of the newer varieties perform best in the face of SDS.

“Use it to your advantage to just collect the data,” Mueller advises.

For white mold, Mueller says farmers can still apply a fungicide in many cases and get enough of a response to warrant the cost of treatment.

“We’re still, early enough, you can get a fungicide out there if you feel like the risk is staying high. You could spray all the way up to R3 and still get some money back on your fungicide,” he says.

“You’ve got to get some penetration through the canopy [for white mold],” he adds. “All the activity is done in that lower canopy. Anything you can do to get the fungicide as deep into that canopy as you can, that’s what we want.”

Unlike SDS, white mold is fairly easy to pinpoint definitively in the field. At this point in the season, Mueller says to look for individual dead plants “here and there” in the field.

“Then just peel back the canopy, and look for the white powder, it’s called mycelia, the fungal growth. You know that’s a telltale sign that you have white mold,” he says.

Mueller’s complete conversation on AgriTalk is available here:

Your next read: ‘Overly Tight Tassel Wrap’ Is Affecting Pollination In Corn

Tight Tassel Wrap Is Affecting Pollination In Corn Across 4 States

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 22:19:34 GMT

Pollination is always a critical point in corn development, and this year is no different. One development hiccup some agronomists and farmers are finding now is what Ken Ferrie describes as an overly tight tassel wrap that is impacting pollination in specific genetics.

“It’s a situation where the tassels on some of these varieties, based on the growing conditions, were wrapped too tight. The pollen couldn’t get out of the wrap, which led to a poor start of the pollination cycle,” explains Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.

The problem went unnoticed by most corn growers until this week. Ferrie says farmers have been calling him the past couple of days and nights, as they’ve checked crops for pollination and found poor results.

“There’s kind of a panic when they find out they got moderate to poor pollination on some of their best genetics out there,” Ferrie said on Tuesday during a discussion on AgriTalk with host Chip Flory.

Unfortunately, there is no management practice or product that can correct poor pollination.

“The only thing we can do now, other than adjust our marketing strategies, is to think through whether we’re going to double-spray fungicide or not on a crop that’s been dinged,” Ferrie says.

Environmental Factors At Play

Fields that showed rapid growth syndrome with scattered yellow plants in early June should be watched carefully, advises Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech Consulting research agronomist.

“We believe the conditions that resulted in the rapid growth in May and into June also played a role in this wrapped tassel issue at pollination,” he says.

“What we’re finding is silks that emerge a week before any pollen makes it down,” Duesterhaus adds. “As the silks continue to grow longer, the ones on the underneath side get shielded, resulting in patches of unpollinated kernels at the base or along one side of the ear.”

In Illinois, the affected hybrids Ferrie has evaluated were planted during a brief window of about April 14 through April 17 and then encountered some environmental stress – such as too much heat – during the onset of early, rapid growth.

“It’s some of our big-hitter hybrids that are affected,” Ferrie says, noting he has seen the problem in 200- and 300-acre fields in central Illinois where farmers likely planted a single hybrid.

However, in many cases, those same genetics planted the week after April 17 seem to have gone through the pollination process just fine.

“Also, if the farmer had a split planter, and the hybrids synced up in silking, farmers were able to mitigate some of the risk, because the one hybrid pollinated the other one for you,” he says.

(X, formerly Twitter)

Farmers In Multiple States Affected

Ferrie says he is getting reports from farmers across Illinois, plus from some in Missouri and Iowa, who are finding the issue in their fields.

“It is a wider-based problem than just in McLean County, Ill., right now,” he says.

Iowa State University Field Agronomist Meghan Anderson says she has encountered the problem on a limited basis in Iowa and from one farmer in Indiana. Most of the corn in her area, central Iowa, is currently on the back end of R1 (silking).

“My impression is the affected hybrids are still producing pollen, which will hopefully shake loose and be able to pollinate the plants,” she says. “My expectation is that it will not have a big effect on corn pollination here. I can’t say that with certainty, but that’s my expectation based on knowing how corn pollinates.”

Steps Farmers Can Take Now

Ferrie is advising growers to be proactive in checking their corn for pollination, so they can decide how they want to invest in their crop during the second half of the season.

“We’re telling guys to pick 10 ears in a row and do that randomly throughout the field. Then strip the ears down, lay them on your tailgate, and try to estimate how many kernels didn’t make it,” he says.

“For simple math, let’s say that once you get done doing your numbers that roughly 20% of the kernels didn’t make it. In that scenario, you probably gave up 15% of the yield.”

In affected fields, Ferrie says he has seen potential yield losses that he anticipates will range from 15% to 40% at harvest.

“Some of these are going to bite as far as what the yield is at the end of the season,” he says.

Grain traders and agronomists are discussing pollination stress in eastern Illinois...

Over the past 14 days, Livingston & Iroquois counties in IL, two of the largest #corn producing counties in the US, have received only 43% and 48% of nrml rainfall.#oatt #agwx #AgWeather pic.twitter.com/OG3Mfaup89
— CropProphet (@CropProphet) July 15, 2025

The important step, he encourages, is for farmers to get out and check their fields for pollination so they can plan decisions for fungicide applications and whether they need to make any marketing adjustments.

“This is a tough break for some of our guys out here, but scouting can help them decide what to do next,” he adds.

Ferrie provides additional details on this issue and how to evaluate your hybrids for pollination success in his discussion with Chip Flory on AgriTalk. This is an excellent, informative discussion you don’t want to miss. Give it a listen here:

Your next read: David Hula Shares Risk Management Strategy to Address Corn Pollination Challenges

Ferrie: Corn Growers are on High Alert for Tar Spot

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 20:01:05 GMT

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire – and smoke alarms are starting to go off to alert corn growers to the disease fire that’s already ignited in some parts of the Midwest: tar spot.

Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie is monitoring tar spot reports closely and working with growers to create and implement action plans for their specific fields to address the disease.

“We’re finding tar spot here on the bottom leaves, meaning it’s homegrown tar spot,” says Ferrie, who’s based south of Bloomington, Ill. “Finding tar spot here the last week in June means that the plants were infected already by the second week in June.

“There’s no way to sugarcoat this, guys. Tar spot showing up here in June means we’ll have hell to pay in August,” he adds.

The understanding of how the disease progresses quickly came at a cost to Illinois corn growers in June 2021, Ferrie recalls. Few agronomists or farmers understood the impact of what they were seeing unfold in cornfields.

“We weren’t sure what that meant at the time, but by the end of September, anyone in ‘tar spot alley’ realized just how devastating this disease could be. There were massive amounts of down corn with yield hits ranging from 20- to 60-bu. per acre,” Ferrie says.

“Northern Iowa farmers experienced something similar in 2022,” he adds.

You can listen to Ferrie’s complete Boots In The Field podcast, where he discusses how to effectively address tar spot here:

Here’s a look at where the Crop Protection Network has confirmed tar spot in 2025, so far. See county-level infections at Tar Spot of Corn Map :

(Crop Protection Network)

How Tar Spot Differs From Other Corn Diseases

Ferrie says most leaf diseases in corn are a problem because they destroy the leaf surface and tear up the plant’s solar panels – the leaves that fuel corn’s ability to make food.

“When managing most leaf diseases, we are usually concerned about the leaves above the ear. Those are our money makers,” Ferrie says. “When we start scouting, we’re looking one leaf below the ear leaf, and we also look up, looking for any disease lesion and the halos around it.”

With tar spot, the attack is coming from the bottom of the corn plant. “So that is where you need to look when you’re scouting,” he says.

Another way tar spot differs from most diseases in corn is it’s parasitic.

“When it infects the bottom leaves, it will pull nutrients away from the corn plant. So not only will it tear up the solar panels and damage the leaves, but it’ll rob nutrients,” Ferrie explains. “It’ll siphon nutrients off from the plant.”

Like extreme parasite levels in livestock that go untreated, a tar spot infection can pull corn plants down and kill them prematurely.

The plant essentially cannibalizes itself, contributing to reduced yields and standability issues at harvest.

Have Your Plan Of Attack Ready

Every corn grower needs to have a plan in place ahead of time for how to handle the tar spot issue. Farmers needing help in selecting fungicides can check out efficacy ratings and other information the Crop Protection Network offers here .

Ferrie says his standard recommendation for a fungicide application is to wait for brown silk, if disease pressure is not at threshold.

“You want more backend horsepower for those D hybrids – those hybrids that make a big portion of their yield in kernel fill,” he says. “However, if you’re at threshold, spray the field, don’t wait for brown silk.”

Here is a look at tar spot fungicide application recommendations from the Crop Protection Network:

(Crop Protection Network)

Ferrie shares two treatment scenarios for Illinois growers who are experiencing tar spot now – one for those growers in Scott County (where pollination is finishing up) and the other for Woodford County (where pollination is just starting).

“Our recommendation for the Scott County farmers is to spray as soon as the corn is done pollinating, which would be this week,” he advises.

“Throw a hard punch at these fields, because the tar spot and existing disease pressure is there. Then be ready to come back in 21 days with the second shot of fungicide, if warranted, of a cheaper pass. There’s where we throw the generics in, and that pass is to drive stability in your crop stand, so it’ll stand up.”

There are a couple of additional things guiding this application timing. For one thing, Illinois growers still have 60 days to go to protect grain fill in the crop. Another thing to keep in mind, he says, is that the curative factor of a fungicide only covers infections that have happened in the past 48 hours prior to application.

For those fields in Woodford County, Ferrie is telling farmers to wait for their fields to pollinate before pulling the fungicide trigger, because most fields are not at threshold with other diseases present above the ear leaf.

“Again, set up a plan to spray again in 20 to 30 days, and that’ll be weather and disease progression dependent. If we should have a drought – conditions that would slow the disease progress – we might not spray,” Ferrie says. “But If we get the weather pattern to give us a big crop, we most likely will need to spray.”

Ferrie says he understands, given the financial constraints this year, that many corn growers are struggling to spray a fungicide once much less doing so twice this season.

“For the cautious guys out there who are thinking, ‘it ain’t gonna happen, Ferrie; I am not spraying in a $4 corn market,’ this too is a plan. But you need to prepare to go early with your harvest, pre-book some dryer gas and look for pick-up reels,” he advises.

“The good news is we’re ahead of this, and we have experience to fall back on. We have time to react as this does or doesn’t unfold.”

Consider Getting Your Fungicide Applications Booked

Because fungicides need to penetrate the crop canopy and go lower on the plants to address tar spot, that can require adjusting how applicators spray the product.

“If you’re going by air, we need to narrow up the swath,” Ferrie says. “Bigger droplets being applied are the ones that penetrate that canopy, and this goes for planes, helicopters and drones.

“Be aware that when you ask an applicator to cut his swath width by a third, it will come at an increased cost, so be prepared for that. But this step will reduce the streaking issues we often see when spraying tar spot from the air.”

For ground applications to address tar spot, the thing to do is have conversations with your supplier now – plan ahead – as ground rigs cannot cover the same number of acres an aerial applicator can get across in a day. And note, your suppliers probably already had a full lineup of fields to spray before tar spot showed up.

“Remembering back to 2021, growers were waiting two weeks or more to get an application made. If 2025 is a repeat of 2021, we’ll need to go at this from multiple directions,” Ferrie says. “At the end of the day, we need to prepare and scout, scout, scout.”

Sign Up For Farm Journal Corn & Soybean College

Ferrie and his agronomic team at Crop-Tech Consulting are finalizing plans for the annual Farm Journal Corn & Soybean College, as well as the Crop-Tech events.

“These events been approved for 13 CEU credits across four different categories,” he says. “If you need some CEUs, this is a great place to get them.”

The theme for this year’s event is Making A Stand. Topics Ferrie and team are addressing during the two-day program, July 22-23, include:

planter add-ons that pay off
spray nozzle science
in-field planter diagnostics
ear count and rooting depth
bean stress and variety response
integrating soybeans for yield

You can sign up online here or call the Crop-Tech Consulting office to register at (646) 801-0591

Your next read: If You Have an Uneven Corn Crop Pollinating, Consider These 3 Next Steps

Parched: More Than 25% of the U.S. Is Experiencing Drought Conditions

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:53:26 GMT

Ron Suppes has been praying about rain for the past 10 years, asking God to send more precipitation for his wheat fields. Those prayers got answered this season, says the western Kansas farmer, based near Dighton.

“I’m not going to not pray for rain, but we’ve had enough that it’s kept us out of the field when we should be finished with wheat harvest about now,” he said on Tuesday.

Despite wheat harvest delays, Suppes says he’s happy about how area corn, soybeans, grain sorghum and pastures are looking now, especially for early July.

“They all look good here, but not as good as Iowa,” he notes. “I was through Iowa two weeks ago, and they’re way ahead of us. Of course, it’s always green there,” he laughs.

Iowa crops are off to a strong start this growing season, according to this week’s USDA Crop Progress Report. USDA rated 85% of the corn crop and 77% of the state’s soybean crop as good to excellent.

Weather conditions in much of the state have been favorable to crop growth and development.

In Washington County, Iowa, Mitchell Hora gave a two-word description of his corn crop. “It’s beautiful,” he told AgriTalk host Chip Flory.

Hora and Suppes shared their personal crop report Tuesday on AgriTalk. Listen here:

The Factor Driving Crop Conditions Across The U.S.

Nationally, USDA-NASS estimated that 73% of the corn crop and 66% of soybeans were in good-to-excellent condition in its weekly progress report released on Monday.

USDA cites favorable weather conditions for the positive ratings. The drought some meteorologists predicted last winter for parts of the central Midwest has not yet materialized.

“Nobody would have thought three months ago that we were going to have this much rain occurring across key crop areas, especially in the southern half of the Plains and in the Delta and Tennessee River Basin,” says Drew Lerner of World Weather, Inc.

The Crop Moisture Index provides a quick view of areas with a short-term need for moisture versus where there’s available moisture in the soil profile.

(NOAA)

The USDA Agricultural Weather Highlights issued July 2 acknowledges the favorable growing conditions.

“In the Corn Belt a lull in an overall wet pattern favors corn and soybean development, although a few showers are occurring west of the Mississippi River. The … mostly abundant moisture reserve is allowing earlier-planted corn and soybeans to enter reproduction without significant stress.”

What The Current Drought Monitor Shows

The U.S. Drought Monitor reported on June 24, 2025, that 25.83% of the U.S. and Puerto Rico were experiencing some degree of drought.

#DroughtMonitor 6/24: The Northwest and NV saw large degradations. Areas of the Rockies too.

The Plains to the East mostly improved or remained drought-free. But small areas did worsen in the Plains, Midwest, FL.#Drought2025 Footprint: 25.8% of UShttps://t.co/mljsjQDvLB @NOAA pic.twitter.com/UInYEWmvVM
— NIDIS Drought.gov (@NOAADrought) June 26, 2025

The percentage of crop acres experiencing some level of drought included 16% of corn acres, 12% of soybean acres and 3% of cotton acres.

Crops experiencing higher levels of drought conditions included 39% of the durum wheat acres, 29% of barley, 25% of spring wheat, and 20% of winter wheat acres.

Drought continues to build in the northern half of the High Plains, impacting rangeland and pastures, in particular, USDA reports.

For example, Montana led all states from the Rockies eastward with 47% of its rangeland and pastures rated in very poor to poor condition on June 29.

In the West, hot, mostly dry weather conditions have blanketed the regions for weeks

USDA says several Western wildfires remain active, and new fires could be ignited later on Tuesday by dry thunderstorms that are expected to occur from the Great Basin to the northern Rockies.

In the South, scattered showers are primarily confined to the lower Rio Grande Valley and areas east of the Mississippi Delta, according to USDA.

This season’s abundant rainfall has left pastures rated at least 80% good to excellent in several southern states, including Alabama, Kentucky, and North Carolina. However, frequent showers have also slowed many southern farmers’ fieldwork.

The Outlook For July Weather

John Hoomenuk of EmpireWeather.com anticipates farmers in the Central Plains will see drier, hotter conditions this month.

“Most of the long-range data we’re seeing, if you look at July as a whole, is showing some pretty substantial [temperature] numbers in the Central Plains. We’re talking somewhere between four and five degrees above normal in some areas of Kansas and Nebraska, two or three degrees above normal for the month on average, surrounding that in parts of southwestern Iowa and the Dakotas,” he says.

As for states further east, such as Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, Hoomenuk says farmers there will likely see temperatures “closer to normal” for July, based on data he’s reviewed.

“It doesn’t seem like we’ll get into that long-term heat there in those eastern regions of the U.S, so the concern level out there is pretty low right now heading into July,” he says.

Your next read: Kansas Wheat Yields, Quality Take A Hit From Disease Complex

How To Navigate Foliar Fungicide Use in a Tight Soybean Market

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 18:43:53 GMT

Farmers looking to decide when to apply a soybean foliar fungicide can get their biggest ROI from the application by determining the crop’s growth stage, says Matt Duesterhaus, Crop-Tech Consulting research agronomist in Illinois.

A growth stage begins when 50% or more of the soybean plants are in or beyond a specific point of development, according to Iowa State University Extension.

But before you decide when to apply fungicides, university Extension says to evaluate product and application costs, which can run as high as $30 to $40 per acre. Penn State Extension says the realized yield response needed to cover costs may not justify the need for a foliar fungicide, if the risk of disease is not there.

Farmdocdaily, based at the University of Illinois, provides some potential scenarios for soybean growers (and corn growers, too) to evaluate based on yield and prices:

Farmdocdaily adds that while you can figure out the cost of applying foliar fungicides, consider that their application introduces two uncertainties – particularly important to know in a low-price year:

1) the yield response from using fungicides, and

2) the additional drying cost associated with higher moisture due to fungicide use. To learn more, check out the Farmdocdaily article Fungicides Use in a Lower Price Environment.

When Soybeans Make Big Yield Moves

Back to application timing, Duesterhaus says from R2 to R4 is when most farmers are staging soybeans for fungicide applications (as well as insecticide and foliar fertilizer). This period of development typically occurs in later July in the Midwest.

During these growth stages, you start to see some of the biggest yield moves in soybeans – both up and down.

“These pod development stages are about finalizing the potential for soybean yields,” Duesterhaus says. “From R2 to R4, we need to do everything we can to protect the beans so they can hang onto those flowers as pods. Then, in August, we see how we can fulfill the potential out there.”

A Different Recommendation For White Mold

If you have an issue with white mold in soybeans, Mike Staton, Michigan State University Extension , says to evaluate your crop and be ready to apply a foliar fungicide at R1 (one open flower per plant on 50% of the plants).

Staton adds that a second fungicide application made approximately 10 days after the first application may improve white mold control if the weather is predicted to remain cool and wet or humid.

Sporecaster , a relatively new phone app from University of Wisconsin, was created to suggest if a fungicide should be applied for white mold.

The Crop Protection Network has also released its 2025 Soybean Foliar Fungicide Efficacy ratings to help farmers make product selections for all disease issues in soybeans.

Your next read: Dynamic Duo: Research Shows 2-For-1 Benefit Pairing Ammonium Thiosulfate With UAN