Chad Blindauer, who farms near Mitchell, South Dakota, expects his corn to yield about half of what it normally does this year, with soybeans at roughly two-thirds of a typical crop. A hot, dry growing season did the damage; the cool, wet weather that has followed has now stalled the rapid drydown his corn had begun and pushed what he thought would be an early harvest back by another 10 days to two weeks.

"Corn is going to be about half what we normally get," said Blindauer, a member of the South Dakota Corn Growers Association. Last year, by contrast, brought some of the farm's best corn yields on record. "It's not a complete disaster of a crop, but it is a much smaller crop than normal," he said.

The crop is not safe yet. Corn he has been checking is still at 26% to 28% moisture, and the drought has left the stalks weak. A strong wind event, he said, would put corn on the ground before the combines reach it. The recent rain has one consolation: there will be moisture in the soil for planting wheat.

Conditions vary widely across the state. The U.S. Drought Monitor released on 17 September rated 5.93% of South Dakota free of drought, 24.33% abnormally dry, 37.59% in moderate drought, 24.78% in severe drought and 7.36% in extreme drought, with none in the exceptional category. Eastern South Dakota picked up useful rain and improved, while areas that missed it degraded further. Pasture that ran short in summer, forcing some cattle producers to supplement feed, is now greening up again.

The state figures point the same way. USDA's Crop Production report of 11 September forecast South Dakota's corn yield at 145 bushels per acre, down 26 bushels from the 171 averaged in 2025, for a harvest of 846.8 million bushels from 5.84 million acres. Soybeans are forecast at 42 bushels per acre, down 5 from last year's 47, for 226.8 million bushels from 5.4 million acres.

USDA's latest Crop Progress report rated the state's corn 14% very poor, 19% poor, 31% fair, 32% good and 4% excellent; soybeans were rated 12% very poor, 15% poor, 30% fair, 40% good and 3% excellent. Blindauer, who says his area is dry more often than not, already leans on hybrids with stronger drought-tolerance ratings, and this season has tested that choice.

Reported by Kacey Birchmier for Successful Farming.

Source: Successful Farming