Iowa Crops Continue to Thrive Following Another Abnormally Hot, Wet Week

By Cami Koons

Corn and soybean crops continue to progress well throughout Iowa, with 15% of corn silking and 36% of soybeans blooming amid another week of above-average temperatures and precipitation, according to the latest crop progress and condition report. 

This statistic puts corn two days ahead of the five-year average, and the report, generated from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, said there were several accounts of corn reaching the dough stage across the state.

Iowa’s main crops rated overall good to excellent during the reporting period of June 30–July 6. Corn rated 86% good to excellent and soybeans rated 79%. 

Oats, which are almost entirely headed across the state and are coloring on more than half of acres in the state, rated 88% good or excellent. Farmers are finished with the second cutting of 53% of alfalfa hay acres in the state, which overall rated 84% good or excellent.

Across crops, acres in central regions of the state are the furthest along, according to the report. Thirty-three percent of soybean acres in east central Iowa are setting pods, and in central Iowa, 17% are setting pods. Southeast Iowa, at 15%, is the only other region with more than 10% of soybean acres setting pods. 

Rod Pierce, a soybean and corn farmer in Boone County, said in a call last week the big rains from the week prior had slowed down his spraying schedule and created “some wetness in his fields.” 

Besides that, he said his beans were “blooming good — very good” and his corn was “a couple of leaves out from tasseling.” 

Climate outlooks, posted on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship website, show more precipitation and warm temperatures are expected this week.

“Outlooks for the next few weeks indicate that warm weather is likely to stick around as we enter the peak of county fair season and an important period for corn and soybean development,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said in a statement. 

Justin Glisan, the state climatologist, said Iowa had an average precipitation of 1.36 inches across the state during the reporting period, which was several tenths of an inch above the normal. Some areas of the state, according to the report, got as much as 5 inches during the period. 

Glisan said the week had “unseasonably warm and wet” conditions. The statewide average temperature of 76.4°F was 3.2° above normal, though the state’s highest temperature, logged in Ames, was 11° above the normal.

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