The derecho wrecked corn and bean fields, toppled trees and crumpled grain bins from South Dakota to Ohio, with winds topping 100 mph in some places. The storm system traveled 770 miles in 14 hours.

Trump’s approval for the declaration arrived less than 24 hours after Gov. Kim Reynolds sent him a request that detailed nearly $4 billion needed to assist with recovery.

The president plans to visit Cedar Rapids this week to survey damage and meet with state and local officials.

“Based on MODIS satellite imagery and storm prediction center preliminary storm reports, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship believes 36 counties in Iowa were hardest hit by the derecho,” the department said Friday. “Within those 36 counties, the storm likely had the greatest impact on 3.57 million acres of corn and 2.5 million acres of soybeans.”

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship estimates hundreds of millions of bushels of commercial grain storage and tens of millions of bushels of on-farm grain storage were lost in the storm.

Sources: DTN, Des Moines Register

The industry entered this planting cycle with large leftover inventories of old crops and 2020 small grains. Now, after the USDA released its first monthly forecast for corn, soybeans and sorghum harvests, analysts expect supplies to top 100 percent of the nation’s estimated storage capacity.

It is not yet clear what the impact will be of the Aug. 10 storms that flattened Midwest fields and grain bins. Nonetheless, the government’s August numbers indicate storage capacity will be the second tightest since 1988 and only slightly below the record set in 2016, when supplies filled 101.7 percent of the nation’s grain bins.

Estimates for a dozen key corn and soybean states show all but one facing a tighter storage situation this year compared to 2019. Even in the exception­—Nebraska—112 percent of capacity could be used.

Missouri and Kansas look ready to run at 124 percent of storage capacity, with Kentucky at 121 percent.

Source: Farm Futures