News

A drought-affected crop

A principal atmospheric scientist says the drought has likely affected some U.S. corn and soybeans.

Eric Snodgrass with Nutrien Ag Solutions tells Brownfield the short-term weather forecast should be good for the soybeans during a critical time, because soybeans like good moisture and 80-degree temperatures.

“They can take the heat and sunlight much better than the corn. It’s going to be all about that moisture, getting the right amounts and the forecast has a lot of moisture.”

However, he says it can be difficult for soybeans to make up from moisture deficits from earlier in the growing season.

“It’s kind of a one-two punch there,” he says. “And I’ll say this: the bean crop isn’t tall. Everywhere I’ve driven around it’s a shorter crop in terms of stature and sometimes, that could mean it does better.”

Snodgrass says July storm damage and heat has likely affected some of the corn in the Corn Belt.

“We had a lot of the crop get into the heat a few days before the storms came and there was probably a lot of stress at the end of pollination and right at the beginning of grain fill that will continue to show up as ears that don’t fill out or lower weights.”

USDA will update its yield forecast on August 11.