Iowa farmers are finding themselves once again behind the eight ball as the fall is coming in nearly as rainy as the spring planting season. The wet conditions over the past week have hampered harvest progress, providing only about 1.6 days suitable for field work according to the Iowa Crop Progress and Conditions report. And the forecast for this week does not look promising as the National Weather Service is predicting 60 to 70 percent rain chances for Wednesday and Thursday, dropping to 50 percent on Friday. “Harvest is off to a slow start since much of the state received heavy rainfalls this weekend,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig. “We need several consecutive days of dry conditions and seasonal temperatures to give farmers time to make significant progress in their fields.” Ninety-four percent of the corn crop has reached dented stage or beyond, nearly three weeks behind last year and 16 days behind the five-year average. Fifty-two percent reached maturity, three weeks behind last year and two weeks behind average. Three percent has been harvested and the crop is rated 65 percent good to excellent. Five percent of the soybean crop has been harvested, 12 days behind average. Conditions are rated 64 percent good to excellent with 92 percent of the soybean crop coloring or beyond. This is two weeks behind last year and 10 days behind average. Sixty-eight percent of the crop has begun dropping leaves, 15 days behind last year and 10 days behind average. The full crop report can be found by following the link included below.
______________________________________
