Last week’s snow storm stranded more than motorists – about 4% of Iowa’s corn crop is still trapped in the field. Iowa State University farm economist William Edwards says 90% of the state’s farmers have crop insurance policies that expired December 10th. He says they shouldn’t have any problem receiving an extension.
“It’s pretty obvious the corn that’s still in the field is there because of adverse weather conditions and those are things that are covered under the insurance policy” Edwards said. “What (farmers) need to do, if they haven’t already done so, is contact their insurance agent.” At more than $4 a bushel, the corn left standing represents more than $500 million.
Along with the monetary considerations, there’s another reason to get the crop harvested. “I think, generally, farmers want to harvest the crop if they can…certainly looking ahead to next spring, having standing corn in the field will present a real problem when they go to plant the next crop,” Edwards said.
Farmers throughout the Midwest have fought Mother Nature this year. A cool spring led to late planting and a wet October delayed the harvest which increased costs to dry the grain before it could be stored.