Eastern Cornbelt:
Strong thunderstorms pushed through parts of all three Eastern Cornbelt states during the week, producing large hail on Sept. 18 in northern Illinois and damaging winds on Sept. 21 in central Illinois.
Severe weather also hit parts of eastern Ohio during the week, prompting warnings of potentially damaging winds, large hail, and localized flooding. Much cooler weather followed, with highs only reaching the 60s in northern Ohio as the week progressed.
Strong thunderstorms also rolled through Indiana on Sept. 18, but summer weather returned as the week progressed, with highs climbing into the 80s and even low-90s in some locations.
Combines were just starting to roll on corn and soybeans in the region. The corn harvest as of Sept. 18 was 1-2% complete in Illinois and Indiana, with 1% of Indiana’s soybeans harvested by that date. Good or excellent ratings were assigned to 67-71% of the corn and soybeans in Illinois, 59% in Ohio, and 54% in Indiana.
Sources reported little interest in fertilizer while the harvest accelerates. “Harvest has started, but they will not fertilize until completely done and only do wheat acres to start with,” commented one Indiana source.
Western Cornbelt:
After temperatures rose to near record highs on Sept. 20 in parts of Iowa and Nebraska, much cooler weather moved in for the balance of the week, with lows falling to the upper 30s in parts of Iowa early on Sept. 22. That was a drastic change from highs that approached or exceeded the 100-degree mark, including a record 102 degrees in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Sept. 20.
The region also saw some thunderstorm activity during the week, prompting a tornado watch on Sept. 18 for 26 counties in central and southern Iowa. Another system brought strong winds to parts of eastern Missouri at midweek, and showers and thunderstorms were in Nebraska’s forecast on Sept. 22.
Drought conditions continued to take a toll on Nebraska’s crop. Just 37-40% of the state’s corn and soybeans were rated as good or excellent on Sept. 18, compared with 48-50% in Missouri and 63-64% in Iowa. With 3% of the sorghum crop harvested in Nebraska, fully 66% of the acreage was rated as poor or very poor at mid-month.
“We shouldn’t be too optimistic on fall application, all due to dry conditions that are in the field,” said one contact. “Wheat fields that are wheat-on-wheat and conventionally tilled have had fertilizer applications go down and incorporated with more tillage, but there is no moisture there to start the wheat. Areas that have caught the spot showers/rain, it may be enough to plant something, but will there be more moisture to follow and sustain the wheat?”
The corn harvest as of Sept. 18 was 11% complete in Missouri, 6% in Nebraska, and 2% in Iowa, while 5% of Nebraska’s soybeans were in the bin by that date. Missouri’s rice harvest was 15% complete, with 58% of the crop rated as good or excellent. Missouri’s cotton crop was 52% good or excellent at mid-month.
Southern Plains:
Cool, rainy weather was reported across much of Kansas at midweek. One source said the precipitation “will get wheat planting started next week.” Scattered showers were also moving through western, central, and northern New Mexico during the week.
Oklahoma, by contrast, was hit with a heat wave in mid-September. Temperatures soared to the mid- to upper-90s in Oklahoma City and other locations, exacerbating drought conditions that cover fully 97% of the state. Nearly half of Oklahoma and Kansas were experiencing extreme-to-exceptional drought at mid-month.
Northern Texas was also battling intense heat at mid-month. Highs in the mid- to upper-90s were common during the week, and expected to linger through the coming weekend.
Crop conditions continued to deteriorate in the Southern Plains due to the pervasive drought conditions. The corn harvest was 68% complete in Texas and 27% in Kansas, with poor or very poor ratings assigned to 52% of the acreage in Texas, 54% in Kansas, and 48% in Colorado. The Kansas soybean crop was 48% poor or very poor, with just 2% of the harvest completed by Sept. 18.
Cotton conditions were even worse. Texas growers had 20% of the crop picked by mid-month, with fully 56% of the acreage rated as poor or very poor, compared with 63% in Oklahoma and 44% in Kansas.
“Folks are getting into cotton harvest and a lot of the dryland is being zeroed out,” commented one Texas source. “We thought maybe the rains a few weeks ago might grow a top crop to save it, but that did not pan out.”
The sorghum harvest was 78% complete in Texas, 7% in Oklahoma, and 2% in Kansas, with poor or very poor ratings assigned to 53% of the acreage in Kansas, 50% in Oklahoma, and 42% in Texas. Colorado was the region’s green spot, with 45% of the state’s sorghum rated as good or excellent at mid-month.
South Central:
Summer heat returned to the South Central region at mid-month. Temperatures at midweek hit the triple digits in Little Rock, Ark., the 17th time this year, with highs climbing to the mid- to upper-90s across Louisiana and Mississippi. Strong thunderstorms were reported in northern Kentucky at midweek, with reports of damaging winds in some locations.
Harvesters were rolling on corn, soybeans, cotton, and rice in the region. The corn harvest was 26-27% complete in Kentucky and Tennessee by Sept. 8, with 28-38% of the acreage rated as good or excellent.
Soybean growers had 48% of the crop harvested in Louisiana, 34% in Mississippi, 9% in Arkansas, 6% in Tennessee, and 2% in Kentucky, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 27% of the acreage in Louisiana and 49-58% in the rest of the region.
The cotton harvest was 13% complete in Louisiana, 5% in Mississippi, and 1% in Arkansas and Tennessee. Louisiana’s cotton crop was just 26% good or excellent, compared with 53% in Tennessee and 64-65% in Mississippi and Arkansas.
The rice harvest was well advanced by Sept. 18, with 87-92% of the crop in Louisiana and Texas already in the bin, compared with 60% in Mississippi and 41% in Arkansas. Good or excellent ratings were assigned to fully 87% of Louisiana’s crop, compared with 74% in Arkansas, 66% in Mississippi, and 51% in Texas.
Southeast:
Late summer heat was baking much of the Southeast during the week, with highs reaching the upper-80s and low-90s in Alabama and Georgia. Highs in Virginia were expected to drop from the 90s to the 70s as the week progressed, and Hurricane Fiona was expected to produce dangerous rip currents along the Georgia and Carolina coasts through the weekend.
Although conditions were “on the dry side” in the Carolinas at mid-month, Florida sources reported “lots of rain” that has benefited fertilizer application on citrus, vegetables, pastures, and golf courses.
Growers were harvesting corn, soybeans, cotton, and peanuts in the Southeast, with mixed yields reported. With 62% of the corn crop in the bin in North Carolina, just 29% of the acreage fell in the good or excellent categories on Sept. 18, with 46% rated as poor or very poor. The state’s soybean harvest was 4% complete, with 61% rated as good or excellent.
The cotton harvest was just 1-3% complete across the region, with good or excellent ratings assigned to 59% of the acreage in Georgia, 65% in North Carolina, 73% in South Carolina, 78% in Alabama, and 82% in Virginia.
The peanut harvest was 14% complete in Florida and 1-4% in the rest of the Southeast. Peanut conditions were described in favorable terms, with 88% of Alabama’s crop rated as good or excellent, compared with 77% in Virginia, 76-82% in the Carolinas, 68% in Georgia, and 63% in Florida.