Iowa Ag Secretary: Harvest ‘Nearly Complete’

By Cami Koons

Iowa saw its first snowfall over the past week, which Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said marked the “official end of the growing season.” 

While crop progress and condition statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are unavailable due to the ongoing government shutdown, Naig estimated that corn and soybean harvest in the state is coming to a close. 

“Based on my observations while traveling around the state and the conversations I’m having with farmers, harvest appears to be nearly complete,” Naig said in a statement Monday.

According to Naig, what he has heard from farmers is “in line” with five-year harvest averages that show 98% of soybeans and 91% of corn acres are typically harvested by mid-November. 

At this time last year, farmers had just 5% of corn left in the fields.

Brrr! Iowa’s First Snow of the Season 

State Climatologist Justin Glisan wrote in his weekly weather summary that temperatures took a “nose-dive” late into the Nov. 3–9 reporting period. 

Several towns in northwest Iowa reported the weekly low temperature of 13°F, which Glisan said was 14°F below normal. 

Despite the drop in temperatures toward the end of the week, the overall average temperature for the period was 47.2°F. The statewide average was 3.4°F above the climatological normal. 

According to Glisan, more than 50 weather stations reported measurable snowfall during the reporting period. Pocahontas reported just slightly more than 5 inches of snow. 

The weekly precipitation average across the state was slightly under three-tenths of an inch, while the normal is 0.52 inch. 

The latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 81% of Iowa was in abnormally dry or drought conditions. About 15% of the state, mostly on the eastern edge, was in moderate drought conditions.

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