June turned out to be considerably warmer in Iowa, and drier in many areas, than I was expecting back in May. Even with less than ideal weather conditions during June, Iowa continued to maintain some of the best corn and soybean conditions in the Midwest.

A trend for less rain in Iowa returned during the latter part of May, and for around the first two weeks of June very little rain fell in much of the state. This, along with above-normal temperatures, quickly dried...