More than half of the state’s corn crop has been planted, but some Iowa farmers are waiting to see if they’ll be forced to do some replanting. Paul Kassel is Iowa State University Extension Crops Specialist for northwest Iowa.
“A large part of my area is really wet,” Kassel says. His area includes Clay, Dickinson, and Buena Vista Counties – where several fields remain under water after heavy rains last week. There’s a chance recently planted corn will survive.
“There’s a possibly with corn planted a week ago, it was cool enough that maybe it didn’t germinate and it will withstand the flooded conditions,” Kassel says. The bigger concern is with the corn planted two to three weeks ago.
“If that’s under water very long, that will suffocate and die. There will be some (plants) that miraculously survive and there will be some that should survive but won’t,” Kassel says. “Farmers are going to be busy, at an already very busy time of year, finishing their corn, starting their beans, and then evaluating what they’ve already planted. Monday’s USDA crop report listed 57 percent of Iowa corn crop planted, eight days ahead of the five-year average. Seven-percent of Iowa’s soybean crop was in the ground, five days ahead of the five-year average.
By Dennis Morrice, KLEM, Le Mars