Farmers can look forward to decent yields despite drought

One of the major questions on the minds of farmers is how this summer’s drought will affect their yields in the fall.

Charles Brown is a farm management specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach who covers Southeast Iowa, including Jefferson and Henry counties. He said that, where he is in northwest Wapello County, that area has received only a small amount of rain.

“As we get toward Oskaloosa, we’re seeing some tough looking crops,” he said.

However, some parts of Southeast Iowa have stayed green all summer.

“In Mt. Pleasant, they had a couple 3-inch rains even while we didn’t get anything,” Brown said. “In general, the drought and heat are taking the top off the crop yields.”

Brown said that if the area is fortunate to get rainfall in September, it could still help the soybean yield. It’s probably too late for corn, though, he said.

“I think we’re going to have some decent yields,” Brown said. “It’s not going to be catastrophic in most areas.”

Brown said a wet spring forced farmers to delay planting until the latter part of May. Though it took the crops some time to catch up because of the cold spring, they’ve gotten a lot of sunshine and heat lately.

Prices for soybeans and corn are pretty good, especially now, Brown said. In his neck of the woods, corn was selling for between $6.50 to $7 per bushel, and soybeans were selling between $13.50 and $14.50 per bushel.

“Markets were pretty strong around the first of June and first of July, and after that they normally trend down, but the last couple of weeks they’ve picked back up,” Brown said. “Typically, futures prices are higher than cash prices, but this is not a typical year, and cash prices have been higher than the [Chicago] board of trade.”

Brown said there is high demand for corn and beans right now, which is why the cash prices are unusually high. He said that, if farmers can harvest a bit early this year, they will reap the reward of getting better prices for their commodities.

“The farther into the harvest we go, the more prices will go down,” he said.

Brown said it’s always important to pay attention to world events to understand how they will affect the ag industry back home. He said the war between Russia and Ukraine is affecting agricultural shipments from Ukraine.

“Ukraine does export some soybeans, but it does more wheat exports,” he said. “Brazil is just now getting into their planting season. China remains the main importer of soybeans.”

Turning to the subject of input costs, Brown said certain inputs are considerably more expensive this year than last. Anhydrous ammonia is about 60 percent more expensive. Anhydrous is used mostly on corn since soybeans make their own nitrogen. Soybeans rely more on phosphate and pot ash, but those costs are going up, too.

“People often ask me why these costs are going up, and the answer is, ‘because they can,’” Brown said.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com