Corn stressed but drought conditions hold steady locally
Jul. 20—The good news is the drought didn't worsen in the Greater Mankato region and the temperatures have been cool in recent weeks.
But the shortage of rain and temps returning to above the 90s in the week ahead mean the drought will worsen and it's getting more critical to get decent rains.
Garden City area farmer Bob Roelofs said the corn crop in his area looks pretty good. "We fared a little better than some guys to the east of me. We won't have a record corn crop, but we need a rain about once a week to keep things moving the rest of the summer. We don't have the subsoil moisture available."
According to the new Drought Monitor map released Thursday, conditions remained fairly steady in south-central and southwestern Minnesota compared to a week earlier. But the drought has expanded in the state and, for the first time this year, some spots of "extreme drought" have shown up in a few places in Minnesota.
Most of Olmsted County, which is the Rochester area, is now in extreme drought. Small areas of Anoka County in the Twin Cities as well as part of Benton County near St. Cloud are also in extreme drought.
Data for the map is through early Tuesday morning so it doesn't include any rainfalls since then.
Roelofs said he's not sure there was good corn kernel setting on the cobs, something that happened a few weeks ago.
"When the corn was setting kernel rows, we did have some heat and it was pretty dry. The corn (leaves) were curling up some," referring to the plant's defense in preserving moisture during the hot daytime hours.
Roelofs, who serves on the state Farm Bureau board, said he's traveled in Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas. A lot of the corn looks all right. North and west of us it's tougher, though.
He said he was surprised that the usually dry area west of Chamberlain, South Dakota, all the way to the Black Hills looked very green. "They've been getting rains out there and the corn looks really good. Even by the Badlands they've gotten rain."
Kent Thiesse, farm management analyst and senior vice president at MinnStar Bank in Lake Crystal, said things are likely to worsen.
"We're in a critical time for the crops and some areas are missing the rains, and next week the forecast is for the 90s, so I think it's going to get tougher," he said.
"We definitely could use that good 2-inch soaker, but getting that kind of rain this time of year is difficult."
Crop prices also have been volatile recently. Corn and soybean prices dropped significantly a few weeks ago but have been rallying recently, likely on the news of Russia ending grain trade agreements and on predictions of extended dry weather in many parts of the Corn Belt.
The local forecast says that beginning Saturday and all of next week the highs will be around 90 or above with little chances for widespread rains.
