COMMON GROUND BLOG

Farmers are to report the planting status of insured crops to their crop insurance agent by Wednesday, July 15. Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) crop insurance specialists have been working with clients to ensure the reporting requirements are met. Accurate and timely reporting is essential to protect your coverage - errors in reported acres can reduce or even eliminate loss payments.

July 15 also is the sales deadline for first growing season annual forage and fodder crops planted on or after July 15 and before November 15.

Remember, August 15 is the date insurance companies start to send out premium notices on spring crops, and the invoice must be paid before October 1. Producers who fail to do so are responsible for interest charges that are retroactive to September 1.

Crop Status is Mixed

Corn is entering its important silking period, with the 18 major states running seven points behind their 34 percent five-year average. Only 17 percent of Iowa corn is silking, compared with an average of 25 percent; Nebraska fields are at 22 percent versus an average of 30 percent and South Dakota, 4 percent versus a 10 percent average.

Mainly in the Eastern Corn Belt, corn condition has slipped in the past week. In Illinois, for example, good/very good ratings dropped from 61 percent a week ago to 56 percent as of July 13, while poor/very poor increased to 16 percent from 12 percent in the wake of continued storms. As the photo with this article, taken in Indiana on July 10, illustrates, standing water remains in some locations.

“It’s pretty rare that we worry about lost yield because of too much rain, but that’s the case this year,” one farmer told FCSAmerica at Purdue University’s annual Top Crop Conference last week. He wasn’t alone: Eastern Corn Belt farmers, in particular, shared tales of replanting, prevented double-crop beans and apparent issues with fertilizer uptake. Illinois, Indiana and Missouri had less than 3 days suitable for fieldwork last week. Such challenges earlier in the season led USDA to resurvey planted acreage in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Texas during July; any resulting changes will be reported August 12.

However, this week’s corn crop ratings, in the states served by FCSAmerica, are more positive: Iowa is unchanged at 82 percent; Nebraska improved by one point to 73 percent and South Dakota, three points, to 77 percent in the good/very good categories. In the 18 major states, corn was rated 69 percent good/very good, unchanged from a week earlier, and 9 percent poor/very poor, one point more than the prior week.

This was the first week for soybean condition reporting and the numbers are not as favorable as those for corn. In the 18 major states, 62 percent is rated in the top two categories, while 11 percent is in the bottom two. High poor/very poor ratings appear in Indiana (26 percent) and Illinois and Missouri (20%). In the states served by FCSAmerica, only 3 percent of Iowa and South Dakota beans and 7 percent of Nebraska beans are rated poor/very poor.

Perhaps among the most interesting numbers USDA published regarding topsoil and subsoil moisture. As the table shows, excessive moisture is available in topsoil and even deeper in a number of states, challenging crops and raising concerns about root development and nitrogen uptake.