The month of September brought much-needed rain to Iowa, but drought conditions are still ongoing in many areas. Farmers are facing challenges with crop yields and quality, and they are closely monitoring the weather for any signs of more rain.
• Northeast Iowa: Silage harvest is finished up for the most part, and growers are starting to harvest corn. Soybean fields in the area are at varying maturity levels, some fields look like they could be harvested within the next 2 weeks. Yield estimates coming in from corn range from 100 to 250 bushels per acre.
• Northeast Iowa: Aside from Dubuque County, most of NE Iowa has received very little precipitation over the past two weeks. Corn silage harvest is finishing up, while grain harvest has started in a few isolated areas. Early grain harvest reports have indicated widely variable grain moisture and yields. Stalk quality and standability may become a concern as fields are allowed to dry down.
• Central Iowa: All of central Iowa received rainfall over the weekend, but the totals south of I-80 were over a half inch and north of I-80 were generally less than a half inch. This rainfall did very little for row crops but will be beneficial for pastures and adding some soil moisture back into the reserve. Most corn and soybean fields are nearing maturity rapidly if they’re not already there. I’ve received several harvest reports so far on corn – corn is mostly wet, yields are relatively good, test weights are a little lower than we’d like to see.
• East Central, Southeast, and South-Central Iowa: It had been about a month since most areas in EC Iowa received much rainfall, and the drought monitor reflects how dry we are with most of EC Iowa being in a severe (D2) to extreme (D3) drought). In the last couple days, some much welcome rain fell across EC Iowa, with totals ranging from about 0.1 to over 1 inch in areas. While for most crop fields this rain came too late, it will benefit forages and will be a start to replenishing our soil moisture for next year.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-songdech17
Categories: Iowa, Crops