***Official 2024 Weather Thread***
- Thread starter wxman1
- Start date
We did/do need a lot of rain, we just didn't need it all in 2.5 weeks. We've been fortunate the past couple years for timely rains during the summer that produced good yields, but the subsoil moisture is still very depleted. Even with the rain we are receiving now we will still need some timely ones in July and August to finish the crop.
The biggest takeaway for me the the past 2 years has been the improvement in plant breeding and genetics. Water use efficiency has really increased for our crops and timeliness of rain has almost become more important than total quantity throughout the growing season. Drought doesn't have the same level of impact that it used.
You don't need a lot but you need TIMELY rains. 2 yrs ago it was dry but timely exceptional yields, last yr about 2 inches short when needed corn took the hit, but beans were ok, this yr who knows way too early to tell.
Subsoil was pretty well depleted last year. As you said it, you are correct. Even the drought guard traits have come a long ways even in the last 10 years. Normal rainfall to slightly below normal rainfall will produce a bumper crop once again.
Idk, there’s truth to that, but southeast Iowa didn’t have timely rains at all last year and yet many farmers had 70+ bu beans. Hardly any rain in July and August. Was pretty shocking to me and even to the growers
Beans are remarkable at handling dry weather. The places that consistently produce 80+ bushel yields (Nebraska and Kansas in my experience) are arid climates with irrigation. The dry air helps prevent disease development and then they can crank the water to them during pod fill. Corn sets it's yield potential early in the season, but beans hold onto theirs up until the bloody end as long as you can keep them from aborting pods.
I read an article last year in which the author (with seemingly no political agenda) stated that our recently increased crop yields were more influenced by global warming than advances in genetics. He had tons of compelling data to back his stance with the core reasoning being we are trending towards longer growing seasons--earlier planting lending to earlier plant maturation during temperature favorable conditions during the life cycle of the plant. He also brought to mind the "adjusted" planting zones moving northward from previously labeled ones. He had data showing the corn belt extending farther north into Minnesota than years prior allowing the use of fuller season hybrids than before and the lack of increased yields in the Texas area that he attributed to heat.. He never discounted the advances in genetics but stated they made less of an impact than our temperatures and questioned whether the "drought tolerence" breeding was being being confused with or misread as heat tolerance or that they worked in concert with each other. Rather interesting and compelling thinking.
Edit to add: Years ago my area was listed as Zone 4 when determining which garden plants, trees, etc were suitable for my area. I'm now Zone 5 (and I didn't move)
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This wouldn't be surprising.
Small sample sizes but there were lots of forest/timber floor plants etc. that never really seemed to die off the last two years even though it's been drought conditions.
We planted corn April 10th-15th. It's all emerged at this point and the stand looked good when I cleared intakes today due to some minor ponding.
Yep, but still crazy that beans yielded what they did with almost no rain for july and august last year. One would think they would need at least some rain in that period considering the months leading up to that were dry too. There isn’t irrigation in that part of SE Iowa either. Corn was also 250 bu in that area for your decent to good producers.
The advantage that area had was that they were very, very dry through the early and middle part of the growing season which allowed good root mass development and they really took advantage of the July and August rain that they did get. West central Iowa was the opposite where we started with good moisture through June then it shut off and we didn't have the root systems to support the late dry weather. Still had good yields, but not as good as SE Iowa. Many of my SE Iowa growers out yielded even my Nebraska growers last year. Guys around Fairfield that got roughly an inch of early August rain had 15+ bu/A better yields than some folks around Brighton who didn't. Was pretty wild.
is this the crop/farm report thread or the 2024 weather thread??
Current temp: 59
Current RH: 64%
East wind at 2 mph
No precipitation since midnight
Great, but has the corn emerged?
that ends with CW leaving his wife and marrying her
No rain today yet. Been awhile since that happened. Got to the mid 30s last night/early morning.
Well on a ISU based website a little of both, and this thread has stayed on track way longer than most.
Ha, I laughed at this, but I still appreciate reading the discussions as a non-farmer myself.
