July 9-11, 2020

9th Annual US Corn Belt Crop Tour Summary of the State of Iowa

The 2020 9th Annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop tour route in the state of Iowa lasted for 3 days from July 9th – 11th, 2020. Day 1 was 84F, day 2 93 and day 3 90F but slots of rainstorms. On day 1 we started in Sioux Falls, SD and travelled east and south down to Carroll before ending the day in Des Monies. Day 2’s plan was to visit the south to Lineville before heading north to Bloomfield to end the day in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Day 3 we headed North east before heading back west north to Castalia before heading back into MN to cross into WI at La Crosse.

The North/Center west and east were the “garden spots” with more than 50% of the corn crop with tassels but the very south east and west (especially east) was too dry with short soybeans and pineapple/curling leaves on short corn crops. Dennison to Carroll Iowa were also dry as they keep missing the rains and lighter soils are struggling. Western Iowa also dry. South East corner of the state was looking much better but as we travelled further north from Alburnett to McGregor Iowa there was a large region hit by wind/hail damage.

Thank you to Kelly Garrett from Extreme Ag Farming for his hospitality near Dow City, Iowa. Almost “perfect conditions” during planting but was getting a little concerned with dry weather. Last year yielded 357 in irrigated corn and hopes to get tm320 bpa this year. Non irrigated corn could top 250 bpa. Irrigated soybeans could top 100 bpa and non irrigated 80+ bpa in a high input system. “Attention to details is key” according to Kelly if you want to achieve high yielding crops.

2020 corn acres are up 3.7% vs. last year while soybean acres up 2.0%. The state has plenty of sub soil moisture, but topsoil moisture is falling due to dry conditions in the North/South Western regions of the state. Yield potential is strong or above average and should be able to contribute to the national yield with a good finish, but dry conditions are a concern. We rank the state an 9.0 out of 10.

Thank You to our proud Premier Sponsor Genesis Ag. Are you searching for healthier soils, higher yields and profits? Look no further, learn more at genesis.ag.

	85,300 Number of farms
	359 acres Average size of an Iowa farm
	30,600,000 acres Land in Iowa farms
	1st Iowa leads the US in hog and egg production
	147,000,000 Over 147 million pounds of cheese are made in Iowa per year
	2nd Iowa ranks 2nd in the US, in red meat production
	1st In the U.S., Iowa has the most acres of land enrolled in the continuous CRP sign-up, trees, grasses and soil on CRP land removed an estimated 17 million metric tons of carbon annually from the atmosphere
	14,100,000 acres Corn acres intended in 2020, +3% vs. 2019 198 bu/acre Corn yield in 2019, -6.0 bu/acre vs. 2018
	9,300,000 acres Soybean acres intended in 2020, -6% vs. 2019 55 bu/acre Soybean yield in 2019, +0.5 bu/acre vs. 2018
	NA Wheat acres intended in 2020 NA bu/acre  Wheat yield in 2020

Year to Date Departure from Normal Precipitation (Inches), Valid on: July 15, 2020