Corn and beans need more water – and fast
For six weeks in a row, Minnesota’s corn and soybean health has fallen, per USDA crop progress reports. In many parts of the state, one would need to dig down at least three feet to find much in the way of even ‘adequate’ water. Rather than write just a weather report here, let’s instead turn to landowners directly. The below blurbs are from CMOR, the Condition Monitoring Observer Reports. Effectively, this is ground truth from people who rely on the land.
From Murray County, Minn. on Monday, August 24:
“Murray County is still hurting for rain. A lot of guys have not only started corn silage, but a lot are close to being done if not done already. This is 2-3 weeks earlier than normal. Corn and Beans are starting to look ROUGH! If we don’t get any rain for these crops harvest will be starting mid September. Pastures are dryer and dryer everyday. A lot of them have turned brown and farmers are taking livestock home or hauling supplemental feed and water to the pastures for their livestock.”
Crops are: “Very Poor – Extreme degree of loss to yield potential, complete or near crop failure.”
From Clearwater County, Minn. on Thursday, August 20:
“Wheat crops on the west side of Clearwater County where worse yielding and lower proteins., then our crops on the east side of Clearwater County. There are ponds that I’ve never seen dry. One of our fields has a slow spot swamp in the middle of it and in 2021 it had water in it it does not have water in it this year. The Creeks that feed into the Clearwater River are all dry. Our water hole which is down by one of the creeks that feeds the Clearwater River has now dried up in the last day. We are about 2 to 3 weeks behind where we were in 2021. If we don’t get a significant amount of rain shortly it will not be good. And if we get another heat Wave it definitely will be very dry.”
To be as balanced as possible, another report came in on Monday from the small town of Northome, Minn. on Monday, Aug. 24. This writer reports things are fine within a ten mile radius of their home.:
“Normal conditions for this time of year • More green than usual for this time of year • Increased moisture or humidity • Soil moisture is adequate to good • Non-irrigated crops or pastures are doing well”
We also asked the Minnesota Corn Growers Association to provide their thoughts. Here is what they had to say, Tuesday August 25, in a statement for MPR:
“Adequate soil moisture to start the growing season and a great June increased the potential for the 2026 corn crop. But in northwestern, southwestern, and parts of east-central Minnesota, overly hot and dry conditions in July has reduced the potential for the crop. While the parts of Minnesota that have received adequate rainfall—particularly south-central and far southeast Minnesota—are looking at a very strong crop, the statewide average yield could be more modest.”
USDA crop reports for Minnesota show the fall-off for corn and beans the last six weeks, after a very nice start to the growing season. Notice how flat the health was (in a good way) early on:
June 15:
Corn: 81percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 80 percent good, excellent
June 22:
Corn: 79 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 76 percent good, excellent
June 29:
Corn: 80 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 78 percent good, excellent
July 6:
Corn: 81 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 79 percent good, excellent
July 13:
Corn: 84 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 81 percent good, excellent
July 20:
Corn: 80 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 80 percent good, excellent
July 27:
Corn: 77 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 78 percent good, excellent
August 3:
Corn: 75 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 75 percent good, excellent
August 10:
Corn: 71 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 72 percent good, excellent
August 17:
Corn: 66 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 67 percent good, excellent
August 24:
Corn: 64 percent good, excellent
Soybeans: 65 percent good, excellent
