Harvest progress is less clear following the cancellation of weekly USDA crop reports because of the government shutdown.
Tony Lenz with Stine Seed covers portions of Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota.
“Where we got south in Iowa where we started to see the southern rust in the corn, growers started to get into that, and into Missouri. Wherever they had some problems there they got started on their corn before they did beans. And I think even we had a couple derecho winds that came across Nebraska and Iowa, and those guys got started on that corn (because) they wanted to pick that up.”
He tells Brownfield farmers in northern Iowa, southern Minnesota, and the Dakotas prioritized soybeans.
“Because their corn wasn’t ready, and then we didn’t get rain as you came north. And the bean harvest just kept rolling, so you get into northern Iowa (and) southern Minnesota (and) we knocked out beans I think in record time.”
Lenz says while the corn harvest is wrapping up in northwest Missouri, it’s still in the early stages in South Dakota.
He describes outstanding yields in central and southwest Iowa but says a dry end to the growing season in southwest Minnesota and the Dakotas limited the crop.
