Iowa — Dry weather continues to help farmers, especially when it comes to bringing in the beans.
The USDA crop report shows one-quarter of the bean crop was harvested in the week that ended Sunday. That puts the soybean harvest at 81 percent complete — six days ahead of last year and ten days ahead of the average. The report says south-central Iowa farmers are behind the rest of the state, with only 54 percent of their soybeans done. The corn harvest more than doubled so 45 percent of corn is now out of the fields. That’s three days ahead of last year and six days ahead of the five-year average.
Here in northwest Iowa, 45 percent of the corn has been harvested, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to find a soybean field still standing. The report says 87 percent of northwest Iowa soybeans have been harvested.
Moisture wise, 70 percent of northwest Iowa topsoil is short or very short of moisture, with 62 percent of the subsoil being short or very short.
