PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA, NE PERMIT NO. 36
Volume VIII, Issue 9
SEPTEMBER 2014
Variable conditions, varying results
Crop health rises, falls on whims of nature by Gordon Wolf Based on observations of Iowa State University (ISU) Extension field agronomists, the overall condition of this year’s crop of corn and soybeans depends on where you farm in western Iowa. The distance of just a few miles can mean the difference between a bumper crop and a significant yield loss or no crop at all, based on variables in weather patterns. Joel DeJong, ISU Extension field agronomist who serves northwest Iowa, said the overall condition of soybean and corn plants in his area is quite good. He said Northern Corn Leaf Blight is causing a premature end to some fields in some areas, which will reduce yields. “The disease has exploded in some locations in the last couple of weeks,” DeJong said on September 10. He added Sudden Death Syndrome and a few other diseases are causing problems in beans but it is usually limited to smaller parts of the field. Sunshine and warmer days are needed to finish out the crop, DeJong said. Aaron Saeugling, ISU Extension field agronomist who serves counties in southwest Iowa, said crops
in his area look good, for the most part. He added a big issue is the amount of corn and soybean diseases this season. The effect the diseases will have on yields won’t be determined until harvest begins. “Crop conditions have deteriorated over the last few weeks in some areas,” said Saeugling. “We are optimistic that Sudden Death Syndrome for most fields occurred late enough to not have huge effect on yields for most producers.” He said some isolated areas of hail damage will create a harvesting challenge due to thin stands and larger populations of weeds, and some areas of replanted crops will need a warmer-than-normal September and early October. Clarke McGrath, ISU Extension field agronomist who serves counties in west central Iowa, said he can use one word to describe the general condition of soybeans and corn crops in his area – “Deteriorating.” “True, this time of year they are supposed to ‘deteriorate’ or mature,” McGrath said, “but the process is not going as smoothly as normal, thanks to the weather.” McGrath explained the overabundance of moisture
has led to disease issues in both corn and soybean fields that will likely cause harvest headaches, and in some cases, yield losses. “Late season foliar diseases like Northern Corn Leaf Blight are killing corn plants off earlier than we’d like to see in some fields, which creates a multitude of problems,” he said. “Early plant death means lower test weight grain and reduced yields. It can also mean compromised stalk strength, making fields much more susceptible to stalk rot and lodging prior to harvest.” Prematurely dead corn plants are compounding the problems; the grain doesn’t dry as well as if the plant matured normally. This creates a Catch 22 situation, McGrath said. “We want to leave our corn in the field until it is as dry as possible to limit the amount of artificial drying - a slow and expensive process - yet the corn plants that died early and may have wetter-thanusual grain may not stand nearly as well as we need them to in order to get much natural grain drying done,” McGrath explained. CROPS, Page 10