Click here to download a printer friendly (pdf) version
CROP AND WEATHER REPORT
For the Monthly Report Ending October 30, 2025
GENERAL COMMENTS & WEATHER: Harvest is coming to a close early this year, as almost all of the fields in Southwestern Minnesota (SWMN) have been combined. It is amazing to look back since our last report on September 18th and realize that the entire soybean and corn harvest occurred within about 6 weeks. The biggest reason that harvest happened so quickly was that the weather stayed warm and dry, as there were only a few significant rain events throughout the entire harvest. One occurred as harvest was beginning on September 21st, then another on October 14th, and then again earlier this week on October 28th. These events gave the farmers some needed breaks in the action from all the long days, late nights, and working through the weekends. Other than these few days of rain, the harvest has gone by very quickly, and now many are working on tillage or fertilizer application for next year’s crop. Most importantly, yields were well above average, with many fields setting record corn yields in 2025!
Figure 1 – It is exciting to see the newer technology being implemented within the farming industry. The combine in this picture is the newest model John Deere has to offer, the X9. It has the capability to keep up with the record amount of bushels of corn per acre while still maintaining speeds up to 6 miles per hour. Many of the previous models had to slow down to accommodate the record yields this year. Because of the volume of corn, some even ended up on the top of the cab from overflowing from the tank. This combine is used by one of farm operators down by Round Lake and was used for both corn and soybeans.
The temperatures were warm from mid-September through mid-October, but over the last few weeks, we have observed a refreshing change from the summer months. It has finally begun to feel like fall with frost in the morning and warm temps in the afternoon. Although it has been a dry fall, it was not as dry as last August through October. Along with other variables, farmers did not have to worry about the moisture of their crops as they took them out to bring to town or store in a grain bin. According to the Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC) since mid-September, daily high temperatures have ranged from as high as 92 degrees to as low as 49 degrees. Daily low temps have gone from 68 degrees to below freezing. The moisture we recently received should help the fall tillage.
SOYBEANS: Soybean harvest began mid-September and was mostly finished by early October. After a long growing season, we almost got all the way to the finish line, but then there was some sporadic hail that fell in various parts of SWMN on the evening of September 21st. A few fields from Magnolia all the way to Bergen had 3 to 5+ bushels of damage. We were fortunate that most of the fields we manage did not have any damage from hail and for those impacted, we were able to work with the farm operators to get combines mobilized and the soybeans harvested ASAP to mitigate yield loss.
The warm, dry conditions in mid-to-late September caused the soybeans to mature quickly and be able to be harvested rapidly. Unfortunately, many fields dried down so fast that the soybeans went from around 13% moisture (which is the level that they are sold at) to as low as 8%. The reduction in moisture reduced the final yield right at the very end of the season. Most of the soybean yields have averaged between 55-65 bushels per acre, compared to last year’s 40-50 bushels per acre. Some producers were hoping for even higher yields based upon the favorable weather this year. Despite some of the many variables throughout the growing season, it was still an excellent soybean crop and some farms still experienced record yields this year!
Figure 2 – To stay efficient, many operators use grain carts to move grain from the combine to the truck. This grain cart and the tractor pulling it use tracks instead of tires to reduce compaction on the ground.
CORN: Corn harvest is coming to an end for the most part. The weather conditions were near perfect for corn development allowing for what has turned out to be an overall record corn crop in 2025 in SWMN! Most corn fields were even across the field and showed little variability. This was a stark difference compared to last year with most farms having drowned out or burned up areas, sometimes both in the same field. Timely rains throughout the growing season allowed corn plants to receive adequate moisture while not flooding out any acres.
The main challenges to yield potential this year were Tar Spot and Southern Rust. These fungal diseases were treatable with fungicide and many farmers opted to use them. Going into this year, fungicides were not commonly applied and many producers were not familiar with the benefits. This led to a somewhat split mentality when it came time to deal with these diseases. In looking at some preliminary data from in-field trials after harvest, we saw a 20+ bushel an acre higher yield from using a fungicide. We did learn that certain varieties are more susceptible than others and that later maturity varieties seemed to handle the fungal diseases better. It is important to remember that fungicides are inherently expensive, and can cost up to $35 per acre, with the break-even of about 8-10 bushels an acre. Based on this, we feel that the extensive crop scouting to find and treat Tar Spot and Southern Rust was worth it. We plan to budget for more fungicide use into the future and continue to scout for these diseases in the coming years.
Our initial reports show most yields falling between 220 and 235 bushels an acre. There were some farms that pushed these bounds, both higher and lower. One thing we were amazed with this year was how consistent the yields were within each farm and in the fields throughout the area, despite variability in soil types, drainage, fertility, etc. With little rain leading into harvest, many fields started to dry up faster than normal, which allowed us to harvest low moisture corn and save significantly on drying costs. We did see a correlation between fungicide usage and final moisture, with fields that did not have a fungicide applied drying down faster than those that had fungicide applied to them.
Figure 3 – Tillage is underway with farmers ripping corn stalks as seen in the picture above. This saves organic material from blowing away as well as the top-soil.
REMARKS: The current government shut down does certainly have an impact on the ag sector. With the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) closed, many reports (i.e. monthly Supply and Demand, weekly harvest progress, and weekly grain export) have not been released for the past month. The bigger concern is that with the Farm Service Agency (FSA) being closed, farm program payments that were scheduled to be made have not been paid to date. The Ag Risk Coverage (ARC-CO) payments from the standard farm program from the 2024 crop were scheduled to be paid in October and have not been paid yet. However, the government did re-open the FSA offices to allow 2 staff members per office to come back to work to start issuing the ARC-CO payments in November. We have been told that the annual Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments are not being made until the shutdown is over. Therefore, we have made partial distributions to many of our clients because of the delay in the CRP payments and will need to make supplemental distributions after the CRP payments have been received.
Because of the speed of harvest and the high yields (especially corn), we needed to monitor harvest and delivery closely this year. Since the corn was dry, we could go right from soybean harvest to corn harvest to make sure that our clients’ grain could be delivered and stored at the local elevators. The elevators and ethanol plants did a great job of staying open and elevators have been able to pile millions of bushels of corn on the ground this fall. Some of the piles will be picked up soon, while others might be awhile with the amount of corn in the area. At the end of harvest, there were some locations that just could not accept anymore corn, as their facilities were full.
The grain markets have been challenging to work through. It has been tough for the markets to find direction without much info from the government, above average yields locally, below average yields from the southeastern Corn Belt, and the trade negotiations/tariffs have created a lot of volatility as well. There has been a lot of communication with respect to the tariffs with China and the lack of soybean purchases so far this marketing year. Fortunately, there has been a lot of negotiations with China in the past few weeks to purchase soybeans from the U.S., which has caused the soybean price to increase as much as 75 cents during the month of October. China made its first purchase of 3 cargos of soybeans on Tuesday and it was just announced this morning that the U.S. and China have reached an agreement for China to purchase about 440 million bushels of soybeans from the U.S. between now and January and another 918 million bushels from the U.S. for each of the next 3 years. According to one news outlet, the announced sales equal the same amount of soybeans China bought in 2023-2024 marketing year, which amounted to 54 percent of all U.S. soybean exports that year.
We have made a couple of soybean sales during the past week to lock in prices/cover some risk after the recent rally. Whereas soybeans have been in the spotlight, there is also long-term potential for an increase in corn prices, especially with production issues in the Southeastern Corn Belt, but with all of the corn that is piled up in SWMN right now, it will take a awhile for corn price to increase locally right after harvest.
Here at Fairland, we have been busy with monitoring and coordinating harvest as well as processing all of the production data that accompanies it. At the same time, fertilizer and other input costs are being booked/prepaid/applied for 2026.
The second half of our clients’ real estate taxes have been paid, the cash rent is being collected, and cash rental rates are being negotiated for next year. It is going to be an interesting next 4 to 6 weeks as we prepare for year-end closing for our clients. We want to thank our clients, farm operators, business associates, and our staff here at Fairland to make this all possible again this year! We hope you have a great rest of 2025 and will see you again in 2026!
Figure 4 – With elevators running out of bin storage, corn is being piled on the ground (as seen above). This allows farmers to keep unloading grain and harvesting in the fall. Some of these piles will be covered with a plastic tarp, while others will be picked up before there is a lot snow that flies this winter.
Growing-Degree Days
| May 1, 2025 to DATE INDICATED | TOTAL GROWING DEGREE DAYS | DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL | |
| LOCATION Lamberton |
September 30, 2025 | 2678 | +127 |
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 (October 29, 2025)
| New Vision-Windom | Magnolia | POET Ethanol-Bingham Lake | Minnesota Soybean Processors- Brewster | |
| Cash-Corn | 3.82 | 3.71 | 3.89 | N/A |
| Cash-Soybeans | 9.95 | 10.09 | N/A | 10.19 |
| January-2026-Corn | 3.99 | 3.89 | 4.05 | N/A |
| January-2026-Soybeans | 10.05 | 10.11 | N/A | 10.31 |
Rainfall (Inches):
| County | City | September 19 – October 30, 2025 | March 15 to date-2025 | March 15 to date-2024 |
| Cottonwood | Jeffers | 0.8 | 25.8 | 28.9 |
| Cottonwood | Windom | 2.2 | 25.6 | 24.8 |
| Jackson | Heron Lake | 1.1 | 24.7 | 31.3 |
| Jackson | Jackson | .7 | 25.0 | 28.7 |
| Martin | Trimont | 1.7 | 30.5 | 28.1 |
| Murray | Fulda | 1.1 | 25.4 | 30.9 |
| Murray | Slayton |
1.1 |
25.9 | 22.4 |
| Nobles | Round Lake | 1.5 | 27.6 | 32.9 |
| Nobles | Rushmore | 1.7 | 26.0 | 36.1 |
| Rock | Magnolia | 1.5 | 24.5 | 32.4 |
| Watonwan | Darfur | 1.0 | 24.5 | 32.5 |
Samuel G. Dammann
Farm Management Advisor
Klay D. Walinga
President, General Manager
Real Estate Broker
Accredited Farm Manager