Statewide Iowa — Iowa farmers got a lot of harvest work done last week, following three weeks of little activity due to nearly non-stop rain and muddy fields. The USDA crop report released Monday shows 29-percent of Iowa’s corn is out of the ground and 37-percent of the state’s soybeans are harvested. The corn harvest figure increased from 17-percent a week ago, while the soybean harvest jumped from 19-percent. Iowa State University Extension plant pathologist Daren Mueller says the wet weather in September and early October has resulted in reports of poor seed quality in soybeans.
The new USDA report rates 65-percent of Iowa’s soybeans in good-to-excellent condition and 35-percent between very poor and fair condition. Mueller says some farmers are reporting pod shatter in soybeans.
Mueller says several days of dry weather aided Iowa farmers this past week and he expected the crop progress report to reflect that:
Sixty-eight-percent of Iowa’s corn is rated in good-to-excellent condition. The USDA report notes the state’s corn harvest is three days ahead of last year, but four days behind the five-year average. Iowa’s soybean harvest is 12 days behind average and it’s also the smallest percentage of the crop harvested by October 21st since 1985.
