The latest state crop and weather report highlights the soggy conditions that have recently plagued much of the state. The weekly review of agricultural conditions in Iowa concluded there was just one day last week that was suitable for field work. That compared to the report from the same week in 2006, when there were five days in which field work could be done.
This time of year in some fields farmers are trying to harvest a third cutting of hay, but Iowa’s recent round of wet weather slowed that to a halt. By this time, about three-quarters of that hay should be baled, but only half of it has. There’s only a tiny fraction of the state which isn’t saturated or at least well-watered, according to the crop and weather report.
Only two percent of the state’s topsoil is considered short of moisture. Almost half is considered by have surplus levels of moisture. As for the maturing crops in the field, corn has progressed slightly ahead of the five year average.