Northwest Iowa — Corn and even some soybeans are being planted in northwest Iowa now, thanks to a run of good weather. But some cold rain a while back has farmers and agronomists a little concerned.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Agronomist Joel De Jong says farmers have been busy the past few days.
But De Jong says there are some corn acres that they are a little concerned about, especially those that were planted in a certain window in late April. It’s possible they didn’t germinate or won’t come up.
He tells us what that would mean.
http://kiwaradio. com/files/DeJong2017o.mp3
He says had the cold rain happened a week or two earlier, there probably wouldn’t have been seed in the ground yet, but since it was getting later, some farmers planted even in the cold conditions.
In the “good news” column, De Jong says for the most part, northwest Iowa has adequate soil moisture.
In other northwest Iowa agriculture notes, De Jong says it’s also time for alfalfa producers to check their crop for buds. He says he measured some alfalfa this past week at 24 inches. He says by the time it gets to 28-30 inches and has buds on it, the feed value is about where you want it, and it’s probably time to think about that first cutting of alfalfa.
