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Sandy to clay soils have different hydrological properties such as wilting point, field capacity, and saturation level (Fig 1a). Wilting point means no water is available to plants, field capacity means near optimum moisture for plant growth, and saturation means the soil pores are full of water. Root growth, plant transpiration, and soil nitrogen mineralization are inhibited by too little or too much soil moisture. Nitrogen losses (denitrification and leaching) and soil water evaporation are favored by excess moisture. Thus, knowing the soil moisture level is critically important.

Radiation is down up to June 1 according the latest FACTS extrapolations.

The springtime decreases in radiation—especially in May—could have caused yellowing corn leaves and slowed down leaf appearance rates (radiation and moisture play a role in phenology, even though temperature is the main driver). The cooler temperatures means lower soil N mineralization, slower plant growth and lower soil water evaporation.

The Forecasting and Assessment of Cropping Systems (FACTS) project is up and running with accurate, recent data to inform decision making for a variety of industry professionals. FACTS is an ongoing project developed to forecast and evaluate in real-time soil-crop dynamics at a field and regional scale. It uses weather, soil and crop information combined with machine learning to provide industry professionals the information they need to maximize yield and minimize economic impacts.

The Forecast and Assessment of Cropping sysTemS (FACTS) webpage has been updated to include regional scale forecasts. These regional scale forecast cover the three I-states providing weather, soil water, and soil N mineralization information. Additional crop information will become available with future updates.

Our analysis shows that soybean more has been more adversely affected by the 2018 weather compared to corn. Soybean yield potential has dropped while corn yield potential is still high. We are in the midst of critical corn grain filling now and soybean grain filling will be starting soon. Convergence in the best and worst case scenarios will begin to occur as grain filling continues.