Iowa county soybean field.
Much of the state had mostly warm and dry weather last week and that benefited crop production.
The latest U.S.D.A. report released Monday rates 82 percent of Iowa’s corn crop and 78 percent of the state’s soybeans in good to excellent condition.
Bob Lynch, who farms 1,500 acres near Fort Dodge, says his corn exceeds the traditional “knee high by the Fourth of July” measurement.
“Well, I took a picture the other day on the 4th and I’m 6’4″ and it was another six-to-seven inches above my head and that was planted like the fourteenth of April,” Lynch said. “But there is some corn that the neighbor couldn’t get in…planted it way late, toward the end of May, and it’s knee high or just a little bit better. But, it’s there and looking pretty decent.”
Some of Lynch’s corn acreage was lost due to heavy rains, while many plants are moving into the critical pollination stage. “We did have a few little pockets here and there that did drown out and I did have a few acres that never did get planted because it was so wet,” Lynch said. “But I think the crop is coming along real nicely. I’ve got some 100-day corn that the tassel spike is pushing up on it. It should be out later in the week if the weather holds. So that’s probably early for tassel in this area.”
The U.S.D.A. reports nearly all of Iowa’s soybeans have emerged. Lynch notes his soybean crop has overcome some big weather hurdles. “The later planted beans, a lot of those were planted in wetter conditions, and they surprisingly came pretty well up and they’re starting to look pretty good. We just need some sunshine and some heat,” Lynch said.
State Climatologist Harry Hillaker reports last week was Iowa’s driest week in over two months with a statewide average precipitation amount of 0.3 inches. Rainfall totals varied from none over parts of the state to 2.17 inches in Davenport.