Spring 2018

We had a late start to spring in SW Iowa but the weather has finally turned warmer and forecasts for continued good weather look promising. A lot of fieldwork was completed over the past two weeks with late spring NH3 application, tillage, and dry fertilizer work being completed.  Corn planting in our area started this past Sunday and continues this week.  The pace of corn planting is impressive and good progress is being made.  Some farmers intend to start planting soybeans late this week or early next week.  Spring herbicide application is also well underway with corn and soybean acres receiving pre-emergent/burndown herbicide applications.  To date we are about 1-2 weeks behind our normal pace but again planting progress is moving forward very rapidly.  Corn and soybean prices remain is a sideways trading pattern with little movement over the past month.  Potential trade wars have the market acting very cautious, especially in the soybean market.  We will continue to watch the markets very closely and anticipate making forward sales of both corn and soybeans at profitable levels this spring and summer.