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CROP AND WEATHER REPORT
For the Monthly Report Ending July 10, 2024
GENERAL COMMENTS & WEATHER: Things have certainly changed here in Southwestern Minnesota (SWMN) since our last Crop & Weather Report on June 15th. Whereas the area had been receiving frequent precipitation throughout most of the spring, it began to rain much more and it continued to do so. Parts of Rock County received as much as 6 inches of rainfall early that week and some of Cottonwood/Jackson Counties had 6+ inches at the end of the week. Overall, most of SWMN received 10 to 14+ inches of precipitation from June 15th through June 22nd, which caused significant flooding in several parts of our area. The Rock River reached the flood stage in Luverne, and the Des Moines River set the all-time flood record in Windom at 25.01 feet. This eclipsed the previous record of 24.7 feet in 1969 and the recent high-water marks of 23.4 feet in July 2018 and 23.01 feet in March 2019. The flooding led to sandbagging in several communities, such as Windom, Jackson, and Heron Lake. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of damage to many homes and particularly basements in these communities. Fortunately, many of the fields in the floodplains have been enrolled into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) or conservation easement, which mitigated some of the potential erosion/sedimentation. 
Figure 1 – Here is the Des Moines River northwest of Windom. The river is usually about a tenth of the width that is in this photo.
With the 10 to 14+ inches of rain for the week, there was also significant ponding in several fields throughout the area, but mostly in Southern Cottonwood and Jackson Counties. If the water could recede through the drainage tile within about 3-4 days in these areas, it seemed like the crop survived or it got dry enough this past week to replant soybeans (it is too late to replant corn). We have been flying as many farms as possible with the drone to document if there is crop loss and if so, how much. If there is crop damage, we have been working with the crop insurance agents to submit a claim and the farm operators to replant soybeans if possible, otherwise plant a cover crop. We are already working on our Mid-Season Crop Reports to inform our clients of any specific issues on their farms with respect to the flooding/excessive rainfall.
The air temperatures have been relatively cool, with daytime temperatures ranging from 65 to 92 degrees and averaging about 5-10 degrees cooler than the historic average. The area has also continued to receive periodic rain showers in the past couple of weeks as well. These two variables have helped keep the smell from the flooding in-check, as the water is slowly receding. Unfortunately, with all of the excess moisture, the mosquitoes, gnats, and flies can make it pretty uncomfortable to be outside right now.
Fairland also took some extra precautions with the potential for more flooding in City of Windom a couple of weeks ago. Based upon the initial forecasts/high-water predictions, there was the potential for water to reach the Fairland office. Our staff worked very quickly to pull relevant files out of the bottom drawers, lift up the electrical equipment, and move the computer servers, even if the data is backed-up offsite. Fortunately, there was no water that got anywhere close to the Fairland office based upon a lower crest and a levy that was installed in South Windom. Thankfully, we have been back up and running for the past few weeks and are appreciative of our staff’s efforts and concern from our clients.
Figure 2 – Water, water, everywhere…this is a picture of the Heron Lake area on June 26th.
CORN: Looking at the corn crop across SWMN, it is easy to see the inconsistencies, and we are not just talking about the basins that are/were under water. When looking at the corn, one cannot help but notice the varying heights and the different shades of green. The tall dark green fields have great yield potential and have mostly benefitted from the excess moisture. The areas of fields that are shorter and lighter are displaying nitrogen deficiencies, which are attributed to either the nitrogen being lost or it being pushed further down in the soil profile from excessive moisture. The extent of this loss depends on several variables including total rainfall, nitrogen source, application timing, soil types, and field drainage. We will not know exactly how big the yield difference will be between these areas until harvest. The farms that avoided nitrogen loss will have great yields and there are plenty of those farms around. The farms that have some drowned out acres and/or some nitrogen loss on other acres will see a yield drag because of it.
The USDA has Minnesota corn rated at 59% good to excellent as compared to the 61% rating from this time last year. The national corn rating is 68%, which is 1% lower than last week, but is significantly up from 55% at this time last year.
Figure 3 – Even in a field with relatively small areas that actually drowned out, you can see the differences in the dark green corn versus the lighter corn where excess moisture leeched away some nitrogen. When we look at a yield map this fall, it will directly correlate with the color differences in this picture.
SOYBEANS: Usually, a soybean plant cannot handle the same levels of intense moisture that a corn plant can endure. This year, however, based upon the development stage of the crops, if each crop was under some water for a few days, the soybean plants seem to be coming out of it better than the corn. One benefit if soybeans have drowned out is that the early maturity varieties have a much shorter growing season. This allows farmers to replant the affected acres and will still allow those areas to produce a crop this year, as long as favorable growing conditions continue.
If replanting soybeans is not possible, then we are looking at planting a cover crop, as both options helps prevents problem weeds from thriving in these potholes. Weed control remains a top concern for farmers and a wet year like this allows weed production and germination to continue well into the summer, so staying ahead of weeds is a priority. Herbicide/insecticide/fungicide applications are still going on in the soybean field and will continue through the end of the month.
The USDA has soybeans in Minnesota rated at 60% good to excellent, which is down one percent from this time last year. For the U.S., 68% of the soybeans are rated good to excellent, which is up 1% from last week, and well above the 51% rating at this point last year. In Minnesota, 32% of the soybeans are blooming which is four days behind last year and the exact same as the 5-year average.
Figure 4 – A Soybean field that avoided the worst of the storms looks great and the weed protection has held up very well.
REMARKS: The USDA Acreage Intentions and Quarterly Stocks Report on June 29th shocked the markets via changes in crop acres causing corn price to drop and soybeans price to increase, similar to what it did last year. The reports indicated that corn acres are now estimated to be at 91.475 million acres. Although it is less than the 94 million acres planted last year, it was an increase of over 1 million acres than the market was anticipating. The estimated U.S corn stocks as of June 1st were at about 5 billion bushels, which is up 22% from last year. All of this negatively affected corn prices, which now sits at roughly $4.00 per bushel for cash corn and $3.75 per bushel for harvest delivery.
Subsequently, soybean acres for 2024 are now projected to be about 86 million acres. This is an increase of about 2.5 million acres from last year, but 653,000 acres less than the market anticipated. U.S. soybean stocks was estimated at 970 million bushels, which is up 22% from last year. Local soybean price are now under $11.00 per bushel for cash and around $10.20 per bushel for harvest delivery.
We have recently made some 2023 soybean and corn sales, but still have some grain on inventory. We were fortunate to sell as much of the 2023 crop during the past 4-6 weeks as we did at much higher prices than they are today. We made a preliminary 2024 corn sale before the recent drop in the markets as well.
The office here at Fairland remains busy as we are assessing flood damage, processing bills and settling prepay accounts, scouting for additional herbicide and insecticide applications, certifying acreage/submitting crop insurance information/processing insurance claims, and working on various projects for our clients.
Growing-Degree Days
| May 1, 2024 to DATE INDICATED | TOTAL GROWING DEGREE DAYS | DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL | |
| LOCATION Lamberton |
July 8, 2024 | 1,061 | -5 |
Corn Growing Degree Days are calculated by subtracting a 50 degree base temperature from the average of the maximum and minimum temperature for the day. The daily maximum is limited to 86 degrees and the minimum is 50 degrees.
Grain Markets (July 9, 2024)
| New Vision-Windom | Magnolia | POET Ethanol-Bingham Lake | Minnesota Soybean Processors- Brewster | |
| Cash-Corn | 3.97 | 3.90 | 4.14 | N/A |
| Cash-Soybeans | 10.77 | 10.86 | N/A | 11.15 |
| October-Corn | 3.76 | 3.70 | 3.78 | N/A |
| October -Soybeans | 10.16 | 10.14 | N/A | 10.45 |
Rainfall (Inches):
| County | City | April 16 – July 10, 2024 | March 15 to date-2024 | March 15 to date-2023 |
| Cottonwood | Jeffers | 9.1 | 22.5 | 15.7 |
| Cottonwood | Windom | 8.9 | 20.6 | 10.0 |
| Jackson | Heron Lake | 11.3 | 28.1 | 15.4 |
| Jackson | Jackson | 8.9 | 24.6 | 9.8 |
| Martin | Trimont | 10.4 | 24.3 | 12.0 |
| Murray | Fulda | 10.5 | 27.1 | 14.3 |
| Murray | Slayton |
7.4 |
18.4 | 11.1 |
| Nobles | Round Lake | 10.5 | 27.5 | 11.5 |
| Nobles | Rushmore | 13.8 | 31.0 | 10.1 |
| Rock | Magnolia | 12.6 | 28.1 | 7.2 |
| Watonwan | Darfur | 11.3 | 26.3 | 18.8 |
Cody I. Adrian
Farm Management Advisor
Real Estate Salesperson
Klay D. Walinga
President, General Manager
Real Estate Broker
Accredited Farm Manager