Matthew and Nancy Bormann grow corn and soybeans near Algona, Iowa, in Kossuth County, with their three children, Reece, 15, Quinn, 12, and Greta, 9. Matthew is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer, farming since 1999. He is president of Bormann Ag LTD and has had several leadership roles on the Kossuth County Farm Bureau Board. Nancy Bohl Bormann is a manure and nutrient management researcher at the University of Minnesota. She received her bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, master’s from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and doctorate at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Her main research project is development and implementation of a nationwide manure test database called ManureDB.

We’re having fabulous weather up here. We have had planters in the area going all over the place. We’ve been lucky with weather, some rain but not too much, missing big, damaging storms and soaking in the warm days. A little more warmth and fortune on precipitation could help get it all planted by the end of week … we’ll see. It’s really dusty. Heavily tilled fields are blowing bad. These farmers need to step up their game on sustainability.

Last week we received 0.4 of an inch of rain, many cloudy days, lots of wind and cooler temperatures. It made it hard to get anything planted or sprayed. Sunday evening we received 0.3 of an inch of rain. Currently sitting with half of my crops in the ground. Got some cover crop rye to kill, but I usually wait till it’s taller, about a foot to kneecap tall. Rye dies easy when you get two days of consistent temps of 75 and above.

We received 0.4 of an inch of rain April 27. Corn is starting to emerge. We could actually use some more rain. We had a very busy weekend trying to plant and deal with breakdowns.

Beans starting to germinate. Corn is poking through and only looking better. Depending on planting date and field conditions, growers are fighting crusting issues — not on everything. It always amazes me that the farm where I feel like I did everything right ends up being the problem field. The field that I plant where I did everything wrong, rushed and didn’t care looks the best!

We received 0.3 of an inch of rain last week, with 0.2 of an inch last night Sunday. I’ve heard many discussions this week about uneven emergence in both corn and soybeans, especially soybeans. General consensus is planting date and lack of moisture had the most to do with it and not the amount of money spent on tillage or the latest planter gadgets.

We got 0.2 of an inch of rain Thursday night. Cold and damp this week. We need heat. You know it’s cold when both the crop and the weeds aren’t growing.

We received 0.3 of an inch for the week. Heat units are making a huge difference. Crops look way better than last week. Beans are getting over that “Ugly Duckling” stage. On my farm corn is all sprayed post. This week we’ll sidedress the remaining 75% of our in-season nitrogen.

We received 0.15 of an inch of rain for the week. Crops are looking better. Corn honestly looks the nicest it’s ever looked.

Corn has really progressed, but we need rain really bad. We received just 0.1 of an inch for the week.

We received 0.8 of an inch of rain for the week. We need rain. Corn is really taking off. Soybean post spraying is complete. The Liberty and Enlist combination worked really well post on beans. Pest-wise, I’m not seeing much.

We received 0.1 of an inch of rain for the week. We could use more rain. The crops everywhere around me look great! The odd thing about this year is that we haven’t had any pond-filling, gully-washing rain events where crop literally drowns out. If we can make it till harvest at this pace, it will be the first time in my career on a few outlying farms that I get crop on 100% of the acres.

Had a wonderful 4th of July! We received 2 inches of rain for the week. I did find some rootworm feeding on a farm. I haven’t had too much of an issue over the years, but this year on that farm there will be some yield loss.

No rain for this past week. Big thing for our farm is the purchase of a new drone to spray fungicide and the learning process and certifications that go with it. Watching the confidence of my sons and nephews ranging from 12-18 years old teach dads 46 and 47 technology is amazing. But then watching the dads teach the boys obvious tips about how sprayers actually work and basically everything non-tech-related is priceless. We’re gonna make a great team!

Hot and no rain this week, but not much heat stress is showing. Beans are starting to pod. Corn is at full tassel.