July heat reduces Iowa corn’s quality

images The hottest July since 1955 has taken its toll on Iowa’s corn crop, with one forecast calling for a national corn yield this year no better than last year’s smaller yield.
Iowa State University meteorologist Ellwyn Taylor said Monday that "with heat and humidity, the likely U.S. corn yield is likely to be about like last year, at 153 bushels per acre." That was almost 7 percent below the 2009 yield.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture in mid-July forecast this year’s national corn yield at 158 bushels per acre.
Iowa farmers say the corn crop may appear impressive, but the heat is taking its toll.
"We’re a little concerned. The pollination hasn’t been that good," said Jerry Peckumn, who farms in Greene County. "The crop looks good from the road, but the heat has reduced the fill of the kernels. It will be hard to get a top yield."
Iowa State University agronomist Roger Elmore said warm nights have reduced the kernel size in the ears. Elmore also said that warm nights and very dewy conditions are breeding more disease problems in Iowa’s corn, particularly Goss’s wilt and gray leaf spot.
"There is reason to be concerned," Elmore said of this year’s crop.
Agronomist Bob Streit of Boone said: "We’re seeing cases of Goss’s wilt show up in the fields in west-central and east-central Iowa. There’s definitely a decline in the quality of the crop. We’ll see some yield reduction."
The 153 bushel-per-acre yield predicted by Taylor would be a disappointment to end users such as livestock feeders and ethanol producers, who have seen corn prices double in the last year as worldwide and domestic surpluses have dwindled to 15-year lows.
The higher corn prices have been felt by consumers, who have paid higher prices for meat as livestock feeders have absorbed rising corn costs.
Iowa’s yields tend to be about 10 percent higher than the national average. In 2010, Iowa’s yields fell from 182 bushels per acre a year earlier to 169 bushels per acre, largely because of record rainfalls in July followed by hot weather in early August.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that the percentage of this year’s Iowa corn crop rated good to excellent dropped from 80 percent last week to 75 percent through Sunday.
The good-to-excellent portion of the soybean crop fell from 79 percent a week ago to 76 percent this weekend.
State Climatologist Harry Hillaker said last week’s rainfall was about four-tenths of a inch below the .95 inch normal for this week. Hillaker said Iowa’s July heat approached record levels.
"Preliminary data indicates that July 2011 was Iowa’s warmest month since August 1983 and the warmest July since 1955," Hillaker said. "Very dry conditions have rapidly developed over portions of southern and west-central Iowa over the past few weeks."
Scott Jorgenson, who farms near Adair, expressed concern. "We got through pollination all right, but the ears aren’t filling out the way we like to see. And if we don’t get some rain soon, the soybeans are going to start to abort."
The National Weather Service forecasts gradual cooling this week, from a high of 95 today to a high of 83 by Thursday, with chances of rain Tuesday and Thursday.
Concerns over the health of the corn crop, as well as a flow of money back into the commodity markets after the debt ceiling deal was announced in Washington, boosted corn prices Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade.
The September contract was up 16 cents per bushel to $6.81, and the December contract, which prices this year’s crop, rose by 17 cents per bushel to $6.85.

Thirty-five percent of the Iowa corn crop has reached the milk stage, behind the 49 percent last year at this time but close to the 36 percent five-year average. Pods are set on 50 percent of Iowa’s soybeans, compared with 60 percent last year and the 57 percent five-year average. Very dry conditions have developed over southern and west-central Iowa in the past few weeks.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110802/BUSINESS01/108020331/1030/July-heat-reduces-Iowa-corn-s-quality?


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