Into the home stretch

Brent Johnson says his corn and soybeans are looking good on his farm near Manson in northwest Iowa despite some losses stemming from extremely wet conditions all summer.

Johnson estimates he's probably lost the top 5% to 7% of his corn and soybean yields because of field flooding and drown-outs.

Despite this, he says his corn is "on its way." He's not alone: In Monday's USDA-NASS Crop Progress report, both corn in dough stage and denting is well ahead of the normal pace (70% and 27% for Iowa, respectively).

Johnson says his soybeans -- which are "heavy into pod fill" -- are looking good, too. Sixty-nine percent of the Iowa bean crop (versus 66% nationwide) was in good to excellent shape as of Sunday.

Aside from some sudden death syndrome -- something that's become a widespread problem in the Corn Belt -- Johnson says he hasn't had many insect or fungus problems. "No planes flying around," he says.