Northwest Iowa — It’s spring in northwest Iowa, and that means planting season. However, this year how far along you are on planting depends in large part on where you live.
Paul Kassel is an Iowa State University Extension Crop Specialist who works out of the Clay County office in Spencer. He says planting progress does vary widely by area.
Kassel says the late start on planting this year, while not ideal, shouldn’t have a major impact on yields at harvest time.
He says ISU Extension has studies that show that some years there isn’t much impact caused by delayed planting.
Kassel says the rains we’ve had since last fall’s harvest, and again this spring have provided us with plenty of subsoil moisture. He says we really don’t need a lot of rain until June or July.
The National Weather Service Forecast for our area calls for a good chance of rain throughout the weekend. Certainly NOT good news for those farmers trying to get their crops in the ground.
