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Persistent rains improve soil moisture across Eastern Corn Belt, raise quality concerns

A grain elevator manager in the Eastern Corn Belt says continuous rains are on the verge of being too much.

Tom Butler with ADM tells Brownfield, “In general, our crop is doing really well in handling it.”

“It’s exciting because we’re building those reserves in the subsoil, and we were a little drier last fall, so we’re putting some of the reserves back in the subsoil that hopefully will be there later this summer, if we get a little dry again,” he shares.

He says harvest in Mid-Michigan is less than two weeks away, starting with the canola crop.

“Depending on weather and how this crop finishes off, this rain is really actually helping the canola in the winter wheat finish out for grain fill,” he says. “We’re probably looking at canola in early days of July here and then wheat to follow.”

While recent storms have alleviated dry conditions across all of Indiana and Ohio, most of the Eastern Corn Belt currently has a high risk for Fusarium Head Blight through the end of the month.