Southwest Iowa corn crop in bad shape

Some areas of southwest Iowa have had good rains in recent days, but the rain is too late to do much good for the parched corn crop. David Sieck farms in Mills County south of Council Bluffs. He says it’s been so hot that even some of the corn he irrigates didn’t do well.He says 60 to 70 percent of the corn is brown and bent over on the ground. Sieck, who is also the treasurer of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says the recent rainfall added to the frustration.He says they couldn’t get two inches of rain over a ten-week period, and they recently got four inches in an hour. He says that heavy rain was too late to help the corn, but may’ve helped the beans. Sieck says the condition of the corn crop is spotty across the area.Sieck says he’s talked with corn growers across the country and he’s heard the same thing.He says no matter who spoke, they said they could drive 10 or 15 miles and the condition of the crop changed. Sieck says the fate of the farmers is still up in the air, depending on the ultimate yield and the federal help they can get.He says the final yields and the prices they get from their crop insurance are still up in the air. Sieck says while southwest Iowa farmers are in a down mood, they only have to look to the west to Nebraska to see that things could be worse.