By Rachel Cramer (Radio Iowa)

While the USDA’s September outlook predicts this year’s corn crop could set a record in Iowa and across the Midwest, economist Chad Hart at the Iowa State University Extension says the boost is largely due to more acres planted this year, not yields.

“One of the things I am watching is that, we know that there’s some disease pressure, say, west of the Mississippi River that’s been building, especially southern rust there,” Hart says. “When we tend to look east of the Mississippi River, we are seeing more droughty conditions out there, and that dryness we know can have an impact later in the season for yields.”

Hart says the USDA’s report in October will reveal how much disease and drought are affecting U.S. corn production.

While corn exports continue at a record pace, Hart says soybeans face a dire downturn and an uncertain future, as higher soybean yields are expected, but their destination is a big question mark.

Hart says, “Our soybean export sales are off nearly 34% compared to last year at this time.”

The big gap is China, which has stopped all official purchases of American soybeans since February in retaliation for U.S. tariffs. China had been buying up to 60-percent of all U.S. soybean exports.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says he’s advocating for market expansion with the Trump administration.

Naig says, “What we want to see are those short-term biofuels wins and also to really move rapidly to secure those trade agreements with some key trading partners.”

Soybean and corn prices remain well below production costs, with soybeans selling for about one-third of what they brought just a year ago.