Last week, the USDA announced its estimated harvest numbers for corn this fall and the report was full of good news. They are expecting another record harvest this year as well as an increase in bushels per acre. Should their predictions come true, this will be the third record harvest in a row. In addition, corn growers will achieve this feat using less acres than the year before.

While this is promising news, the report did not account for the flooding conditions in Iowa. More than 32 counties in the state are now eligible for federal disaster funding and many of the residents who have been most negatively affected are corn growers. One of the worst areas is near Ames, Iowa. (You can see the devastation is the aerial photo.)

To learn more about how the floods might affect Iowa corn farmers, I reached out to the Iowa Corn Growers Association. In an email to me, they noted that the impact of the floods on harvest has not been a major topic of discussion but many farmers are worried that the hot weather may stunt ear growth and cause denting before its time. The result would be lower test weights.

Dean Taylor, a corn and soybean farmer from Prairie City, Iowa and president-elect of the Iowa Corn Growers Association has been affected by the floods. “Three weeks ago, our crops looked great. We were looking at 200 bushels per acre corn and above, but now even non-flooded fields that received 10-15 inches of rain in one week might top out at 120 to 130 bushels per acre. I think we’ve learned from 1993, that rain does not always make grain,” explained Taylor.

Another area of concern is with the demand on growers to grow enough corn to meet the country’s diverse needs, will there be enough corn to go around? “We have more than enough corn for all markets, of which ethanol and livestock are the drivers in Iowa,” commented Iowa Corn.

The organization remains confident in Iowa’s corn growers and noted that the growers who have not been affected will step up to the plate and make up for those farmers whose harvest numbers will be lower than expected. I ran into an Iowa farmer earlier this week who is very proud of what he does, so much so that he wears his pride on his shirt. I loved his shirt so much that I thought it was appropriate to share it with you on this site (and BTW – I want one of these shirts!).

In closing, I asked Iowa Corn if they had a message they wanted to deliver to our readers. They responded, “We are sad to see so many weather issues affecting farmers across the state, but we know that farmers battle weather of some kind or another each year and continue to do what they do best- produce food, fuel, feed, and fiber for the world.”