Corn in central Iowa.
Rains last week helped some Iowa crops, but it may not be enough for others.
The latest U.S.D.A. crop report released Monday shows 61 percent of the corn crop was rated in good to excellent condition — which is the same as reported last week. Soybean conditions improved slightly with the rain to 58 percent good to excellent.
But Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey says in a release accompanying the report that the recent rains may be too little and too late for parts of south central and southeast Iowa that have already seen significant crop damage due to drought.
The crop report shows that topsoil moisture levels in south-central and southeast Iowa remained more than 90 percent short to very short. That’s in contrast to the statewide view where topsoil moisture levels improved to 19 percent very short and 31 percent short.