We farm just West of Scott's home farm. It is 15 miles South of our main farm. He is right it does look very good, especially since that farm has had 3 inches of rain we did not get here up North. My point is that subsoil is nonexistent. Talk to the guys that dig for living and they are saying the top 2ft has most all the moistier and very little from there down. We still need rains in WC Iowa in July and August to finish this crop, or it could get very ugly, very fast. We used to pick Garst Seed Corn on Scott's family farm and had the pleasure of knowing and working with his father.
The US has inadvertently engineered a nearly ideal growing environment for Midwest crop production. Pre industrial temps were too cool for optimal corn growing so the additional heat we caused is beneficial. At the same time, installing coal fired power plants after WW2 created an aerosol masking effect which has suppressed extremely hot summer high temps. KC - # of 100F+ days from 1940- 1959: 134. # of 100F+ days 1960-1959: 49. Same idea for Columbus OH, Bloomington IN, Omaha, etc. Midwest cities have barely set any summer heat records over the last decade. Entirely different story in Miami, Las Vegas, Seattle, Bucharest Romania, Riyad Saudi Arabia, Paris France and nearly all of South America. Few coal plants, low sulfate levels, summer heat records galore for this group.
We farm just West of Scott's home farm. It is 15 miles South of our main farm. He is right it does look very good, especially since that farm has had 3 inches of rain we did not get here up North.
My point is that subsoil is nonexistent. Talk to the guys that dig for living and they are saying the top 2ft has most all the moistier and very little from there down. We still need rains in WC Iowa in July and August to finish this crop, or it could get very ugly, very fast. We used to pick Garst Seed Corn on Scott's family farm and had the pleasure of knowing and working with his father.
Price action illustrates crop conditions.
The equipment has more than doubled in ten years and hasnt retreated and fertilizers do the same how do you figure it remains with the farmer?
This guy hasn’t been in the western half I haven’t heard anything in Iowa Nebraska and dakotas that’s not behind
The US has inadvertently engineered a nearly ideal growing environment for Midwest crop production. Pre industrial temps were too cool for optimal corn growing so the additional heat we caused is beneficial. At the same time, installing coal fired power plants after WW2 created an aerosol masking effect which has suppressed extremely hot summer high temps. KC - # of 100F+ days from 1940- 1959: 134. # of 100F+ days 1960-1959: 49. Same idea for Columbus OH, Bloomington IN, Omaha, etc. Midwest cities have barely set any summer heat records over the last decade. Entirely different story in Miami, Las Vegas, Seattle, Bucharest Romania, Riyad Saudi Arabia, Paris France and nearly all of South America. Few coal plants, low sulfate levels, summer heat records galore for this group.
Corn, more corn. Too much. Need to diversify our rotations. Better for us, better for the soil.