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CROP AND WEATHER REPORT
For the Monthly Report Ending July 15, 2026
GENERAL COMMENTS & WEATHER: Summer has arrived! Hot temperatures, scattered rain, and some severe weather has everything moving along nicely this crop season. Both corn and soybeans are looking excellent in Southwestern Minnesota (SWMN) this summer. With farmers planting a majority of the crops in April, they are entering the next stages of plant development sooner than expected. That is great news when looking at expected yields, but there is still a lot of growing season ahead of us. Everyone knows the saying “knee-high by the 4th of July”. This has become quite the antiquated term in relation to corn development, as most of the corn crop was at least shoulder high by that time. As an industry, we need a new saying, but it is hard to come up with something as catchy, so please let us know if you have any ideas (especially if it rhymes).
Figure 1 – Whole fields are starting to tassel as we get further into the month of July.
We are currently in a heat wave, with daytime temperatures in the 90+ degree range through most of next week. Daily high temps for the last month have ranged from 71 to 90 degrees and daily lows from 48 to 72 degrees. As of July 13th, our Growing Degree Days (GDD) are above average at 1,258 compared to the historical average of 1,175, according to the Southwest Research and Outreach Center (SWROC).
With the recent weather patterns, we should expect GDD to stay above average for the month of July. There has been adequate rainfall in the past month for the most part with the majority of areas receiving between 3 and 6.5 inches, but some areas in SWMN that are still dry enough to be considered in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. We will need additional rainfall on the backside of this heat otherwise we will begin to see widespread stress in the crops. A few weeks ago, there were isolated incidents of extreme wind southeast of Windom that was strong enough to flatten parts of corn fields and cause damage to some farmers’ building sites. We have reached out to those of you whose farms were affected.
CORN: High temperatures and high humidity have been near perfect for growing corn this last month. The light and frequent rainfall has also allowed the soil to adequately hold nitrogen with almost no signs of nitrogen deficiency visible this year. The great growing conditions have also been conducive for weed development. It seems that every year we mention that weeds are an ongoing issue, and this year is no exception. Some corn fields required a respray as resistance to herbicide continues to spread. Some corn fields look clean from the road, but if you walk out in them and look under the canopy, there are areas where weeds continue to develop. Thankfully, only a few cornfields had to be resprayed this year, but the problem persists. There are new technologies and chemistries being implemented to try to help stay ahead of the issues, but it is an ever-evolving battle.
Another battle that we will be facing on an annual basis is Tar Spot. As a refresher: Tar Spot is a fungal disease that attacks the leaves and stalk of corn and hinders its ability to perform photosynthesis. It can cause yield loss up to 50 bu. an acre. Last year was the first year that we saw widespread Tar Spot in our area. Thankfully there are fungicide applications that do a great job of combating the disease, but the treatments effectiveness comes down to timing and environmental factors. We will be regularly checking fields for Tar Spot for the next month and taking preventative measures when necessary. The high temperatures are helpful against Tar Spot as it favors a cool damp environment. The other disease that we saw last year was Southern Rust, which cannot survive the winters in the Midwest and has to be carried up from the south in weather systems. These scenarios have not occurred yet this year, so we do not think Southern Rust will be a factor in the corn production at this time.
SOYBEANS: Soybean growth has been steady in the past month with most fields close to establishing a canopy. Similar story as the corn with respect to weeds, which have also taken off and are by far the biggest problem in soybean production. Resistance to different types of herbicides are becoming more apparent. The second application of herbicide in a lot of cases cleaned up 90-95% of each field, but the remaining areas are where problems worsen. An additional application has been applied on roughly 2/3 of the soybean fields that Fairland manages, and thankfully the extra pass has been successful. Hopefully the soybean fields should remain clean for the rest of the season now that the canopy has developed.
Weed prevention in soybeans has become an expensive, but necessary endeavor. New chemistry is being rolled out to give the farmers more tools in the toolbelt. New technology is also being utilized such as John Deeres See & Spray. This uses a system of cameras to only spray the weeds, allowing a higher more effective rate of herbicide to be used, while not spraying areas where there are no weeds.
Figure 2 – The weeds between the rows of soybeans are small enough that you can tell they emerged after the second application of herbicide, this is right before a third application was completed.
Overall, the soybean crop looks excellent and has already begun flowering. As we enter aphid season, we will be closely monitoring fields for any populations that may require spraying. Over the next 30 days, we anticipate applying insecticides that were planned earlier in the season, along with fungicides where warranted. We believe we are well positioned to achieve an above-average soybean crop this year.
The USDA has soybeans in Minnesota rated at 81% good to excellent, compared to the rating of 75% this time last year. For the U.S., 75% of the soybeans are rated good to excellent, which is one point up from last week, and above the 70% rating at this point last year. In Minnesota, 63% of the soybeans are blooming, which is significantly above the 5-year average of 46%.
Figure 3 – Even though this looks like a normal John Deere sprayer, it is actually the ‘See & Spray’ model that implements a system of cameras that only turn on the sprayer nozzle when a weed is detected. This reduces overall herbicide use and in turn reduces unnecessary stress on plants.
REMARKS: Last week, the USDA Supply and Demand report was released and was generally bullish for the corn and soybean markets. Ending stocks for corn carryout were lowered from 2.145 billion bushels last month to 2.020 billion bushels. Corn new crop projected ending stocks were cut from 1.960 billion bushels to 1.790 billion bushels. For soybean carryout, ending stocks were 340 million bushels last month and were lowered to 330 million bushels. New crop soybean ending stocks remained unchanged at 310 million bushels. What this shows is there is strong demand for both corn and soybeans and the market reflected that with higher prices. The big driving factors in the corn and soybean markets going forward will be the hot dry weather pattern that is covering most of the U.S., and whether China continues to purchase soybeans, which they have started doing again recently. Also, the renewed intensity in the war between Russia and the Ukraine has cause global wheat prices to increase, which creates upward price pressure on corn and soybeans. Overall, soybean prices are up about 80 cents a bushel so far in July and corn is up about 25 cents. We just sold the remaining 2025 corn on inventory and will be selling the balance of the 2025 soybeans soon.
The other global headline is the war with Iran. As attacks persist, we see the effects in the crude oil markets. If the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, we will see fertilizer prices continue to increase, which would create higher input costs this fall for the 2027 corn crop. This is another variable that proves ag production is a global business.
There was a new analysis on the cost of corn and soybean inputs that was prepared by the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), which is funded by the corn check-off funds collected for each bushel of corn that is sold in the U.S. The study compared the costs of major inputs between what farmers pay in the U.S. and Brazil. It was discovered that U.S. farmers pay more than the Brazilian counterparts in every major seed and crop protection input. The study was very in-depth and controlled for exchange rates, farm-size, comparing only active ingredients. One example of the size of the price gap is in seed costs, where U.S. prices averaged 68% higher than Brazil’s for corn seed and 24$ higher for soybean seed. The largest discrepancy is in some herbicide and fungicide costs, where the U.S. prices were consistently twice as expensive. The point of the study was to bring attention to the rising input costs that American farmers are facing and how it is putting them at a disadvantage globally. The NCGA wants to use this information to improve price transparency, create market opportunities, and ensure public policy supports these goals.
Many of you have heard from us in regard to the PowerOn Midwest transmission line project. With the multiple proposed route options, many of our clients’ farms are in potential construction corridors. We have attended multiple meetings and made comments on behalf of those who wanted their opinions shared. PowerOn Midwest is now compiling those comments and is working to refine their route options. They indicated that over 1,300 people attended the open houses in June and they received over 850 comments. PowerOn Midwest has indicated that it will present that information at their next round of open houses set to take place sometime in August. We will attend these upcoming meetings and reach out to the landowners whose land still remains within a potential route.
Fairland continues to be busy processing crop expense bills, settling prepay accounts, scouting for additional herbicide and fungicide/insecticide applications, certifying acreage/submitting crop insurance information/processing insurance claims, working with wind/solar project developers, and assisting clients with various projects.
Figure 4 – Extreme winds toppled part of this farmer’s grain handling facility east of Windom.
Growing-Degree Days
| May 1, 2026 to DATE INDICATED | TOTAL GROWING DEGREE DAYS | DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL | |
| LOCATION Lamberton |
July 13, 2026 | 1258 | +83 |
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 14, 2026)
| New Vision-Windom | Magnolia | POET Ethanol-Bingham Lake | Minnesota Soybean Processors- Brewster | |
| Cash-Corn | 3.99 | 3.89 | 3.98 | N/A |
| Cash-Soybeans | 11.48 | 11.52 | N/A | 12.02 |
| October-Corn | 4.11 | 4.05 | 4.10 | N/A |
| October-Soybeans | 11.16 | 11.21 | N/A | 11.51 |
Rainfall (Inches):
| County | City | June 19 – July 15, 2026 | March 15 to date-2026 | March 15 to date-2025 |
| Cottonwood | Jeffers | 6.2 | 13.1 | 13.5 |
| Cottonwood | Windom | 6.5 | 15.2 | 15.6 |
| Jackson | Heron Lake | 5.0 | 15.0 | 16.1 |
| Jackson | Jackson | 5.1 | 14.5 | 14.4 |
| Martin | Trimont | 6.2 | 15.5 | 19.5 |
| Murray | Fulda | 4.6 | 15.1 | 13.7 |
| Murray | Slayton |
3.6 |
9.5 | 14.4 |
| Nobles | Round Lake | 4.8 | 12.1 | 16.9 |
| Nobles | Rushmore | 4.4 | 13.9 | 14.9 |
| Rock | Magnolia | 3.0 | 9.6 | 17.0 |
| Watonwan | Darfur | 3.5 | 11.3 | 14.7 |
Cody I. Adrian
Farm Management Advisor
Real Estate Salesperson
Klay D. Walinga
President, General Manager
Real Estate Broker
Accredited Farm Manager