Editors' Notebook

While soybeans in many areas remain on the "iffy" side, there's no doubt that for much of the Midwest and central-west production areas, the corn crop is in as good a shape as we've seen in recent seasons. Concerns now are jumping ahead to harvest and the looming collision course of plentiful bushels, conditions leading to delayed dry-down and limited propane supplies due to transportation issues. Add some lingering 2013 crop in some bins, and it's certainly not too early to think about what harvest could be like.

Our ag meteorological team, led by Bryce Anderson, is continuing to see a scenario building for normal to cooler temps throughout late summer and into fall. Earlier in the week I visited with some crop management experts from Pioneer who have been gathering on-farm data about crop condition, soil moisture and nitrogen availability as part of their new Encirca program. Full disclosure: DTN supplies weather data along with other information for that program, so it was interesting seeing from the reporter's view how that information is being used in the field.

It's always dangerous to generalize about a crop, particularly over the vast territory where U.S. corn is planted. Just this week, for example, we heard from a customer in south-central Minnesota who says things look great from the road, but fields are dry and cracking, and rain is needed to finish off pollination and kernel set.

Still, good reports far outweigh the bad. It actually seemed odd to travel across Iowa and northern Missouri and see solid green fields -- very few drowned out areas or large yellow, nitrogen-deficient spots that we've become accustomed to seeing in recent seasons.

While the Pioneer data shows some areas potentially running short on nitrogen late in the season, it's unlikely to take a huge bite out of yields overall, and certainly not enough to shorten the crop's life, nor the time needed for dry down. We're a little behind in growing degree days in most areas; again, not to a problem level but nothing there that spells a quick-to-the-finish crop.

We'll continue to report on the crop and on propane issues, but if you haven't lined up drying fuel supplies it's time to think about it.

(CZ/SK)

© Copyright 2014 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.