2015 US Corn Belt Crop Tour: Iowa

Jul 17, 2015

Tenth state in a 12-state tour

The 4^th annual Farms.com US Corn Belt Crop Tour continues to make its way through the American Midwest, visiting some of the highest producing states along the way.

Farms.com Risk Management’s Chief Commodity Strategist Moe Agostino and his team have made their way through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.

The tenth state to be visited on the 12-state tour was Iowa.

Depending on where in Iowa was visited, the crop performances differed.

“We’re near Sheldon, Iowa, and folks, it’s looking good,” he said. “The corn looks really consistent (and) the beans look awesome. Lots of consistency and very little weed pressure.”

However as the tour traveled to Kossuth and Humboldt counties, things took a different turn.

“I’m very disappointed with what I’m seeing,” Agostino said. “I’m seeing too much moisture pressure and I have not seen a corn field yet that’s tasseled in Iowa. This crop is behind; at least one, maybe two weeks behind from what I saw last year.”

Near Manchester, Iowa, the crops seemed to be doing a little better.

“A lot of lush, green corn and beans,” he said. “Probably another week, maybe two weeks away from tasseling. Still seeing some moisture stress but not looking too bad.”

Agostino said based on his findings in Iowa, he can’t rank the state in his top five for the tour, saying the effects will be felt on national corn and soybean yields.

Be sure to follow along the Corn Belt Crop Tour on Twitter using the hashtag #CornBelt15.

The next state to be visited will be Wisconsin.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.