Severe weather dominated the headlines last week and left an estimated 4.3 days on average suitable for farmers to work in their fields. “The majority of Iowa received rain this past week, which is critically important as cornfields are tasseling,” says Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig. “Unfortunately, with the precipitation came periods of severe weather. Preliminary estimates indicate 26 tornadoes touched down on Wednesday, which is the third highest daily count on record.” According to the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending July 18, those 4.3 days available for field work varied greatly across the state with just 1.6 days in southern Iowa to 5.3 days in the north. There were scattered reports of crop damage due to hail and high winds. The crops did respond well to the rain with corn rated 68 percent good to excellent as silking or beyond reached 60 percent. This is one day ahead of the five-year average while corn entering the dough stage reached six percent, three days ahead of normal. Thirty percent of the soybean crop is setting pods, four days ahead of the average, and 75 percent is blooming, six days ahead. The soybean conditions are being reported at 66 percent good to excellent. Almost a quarter of the oats for grain crop has been harvested, one day ahead of the five-year average, and 85 percent is coloring, two days ahead of normal. The oat conditions improved slightly over the week to 63 percent good to excellent. The full report can be found at nass.usda.gov.
