Northwest Iowa — Although the current rains will slow things down a bit, the ideal weather conditions we’ve experienced in the past few weeks have allowed farmers to continue harvesting corn at a faster than normal pace. Here in northwest Iowa, extension crop specialist, Joel DeJong, says many farmers appear to be ahead of the statewide average.
DeJong says the recent warm, dry and windy days have helped reduce corn moisture levels so many farmers have not needed to artificially dry their corn.
He says the timing of the dry weather helped dry down all the corn.
He says the last six weeks have been very good in allowing the corn to dry down so it can be harvested. The yield reports have been good too, with most at or above 200 bushels an acre for the corn.
The I-S-U crops specialist says some farmers have noticed stalk rot due to the excessive rains from July, August and September, and have managed the harvest accordingly.
DeJong says soil temperatures are still too warm for farmers to apply any anhydrous ammonia fertilizer, and he is also concerned about the liquid manure that is being applied on some harvested fields.
