On Wednesday, September 24, Tyne Morgan interviewed Professors John Crespi, Chad Hart, and Peter Orazem for an episode of US Farm Report College Roadshow. While discussing current trends and factors influencing the crop harvest, Hart said "Southern rust came up, especially in August, and it was just ideal conditions for it here. At the same time too, looking at the eastern side of the Corn Belt, drought conditions there are starting to steal some yield as well, so we're seeing this downward pressure on yield estimates as we go into harvest time. Speaking on international trade Crespi said "After all the big [soybean] sales from Brazil to China, Argentina has now stepped up and they've taken over those late fourth-quarter sales of a lot of soybean exports." When speaking about the general health of the US economy Orazem said "Well, if you look at Iowa in general, Iowa's not doing very well economically, and some of that is related to the weakness in agricultural markets. Iowa's actually giving away a tenth of a percent of gross state product each of the last three years."
The full episode of US Farm Report featuring Crespi, Hart, and Orazem is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI4dNSCNU80.