Northwest Iowa — The latest crop report shows the corn is planted across the state and beans are not far behind.
Just two percent of the corn planting remained going into last week and farmers are now looking for some good warm growing days. Ninety-six percent of the crop has emerged. That’s two weeks behind where we were last year at this time and 15 days behind the five-year average.
The report shows about five percent of the soybeans still remain to be planted. Eighty-one percent of the beans that have been planted have emerged. That’s also two weeks behind last year.
The corn condition improved slightly this week — with 62 percent rated good to excellent. Sixty-three percent of the beans rate in good to excellent condition — up from 61 percent last week.
Here in the northwest district, 97 percent of corn has emerged. It says 98 percent of the soybeans are planted, and 87 percent have emerged.
The northwest Iowa forecast for the coming week is just what the doctor ordered for corn development. The National Weather Service says we should be on a steady climb, with highs in the mid to upper 80s for the next couple of days, and up to 90 Friday. The weekend looks sunny and hot with highs in the mid 90s. The six-to-ten-day forecast also calls for above-normal temperatures, but also above-normal precipitation.
