Although there were wet conditions in parts of Iowa last week, farmers made progress in getting corn and soybeans harvested. USDA’s statewide survey for the week ending Oct. 1 shows 6% of the 2017 corn crop has now been harvested, nearly two weeks behind average. And 16% of the soybean crop has been harvested, one day behind last year and three days behind average.

Roger Johnson harvested soybeans in Linn County in eastern Iowa. The yield average so far on his farm is just under 60 bushels per acre. “Not bad, considering we had some hail damage earlier in the growing season,” he notes. He’s about three-fourths of the way done on combining beans.

Farmers report better-than-expected yields
“After the rain showers that are in the forecast for the first part of this week conclude, I expect harvest across Iowa will begin in earnest when fields dry back out and conditions allow,” says Mike Naig, Iowa deputy secretary of agriculture. He says farmers he’s talked to who are located in areas of the state that were the driest this summer are in a number of cases harvesting better corn and soybean yields than expected. But there are some really low-yielding fields, too, in south-central and southeast Iowa, he adds.

The complete weekly crop and weather report is available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship’s website at IowaAgriculture.gov or on USDA’s site at nass.usda.gov/ia. The report summary follows.

Summary of Iowa crop conditions
Rainfall during the week slowed down harvest allowing Iowa farmers 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending Oct. 1, according to USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service. Although there were wet field conditions in parts of Iowa, activities for the week included harvesting corn for grain and soybeans, seeding cover crops and finishing the last cutting of hay.

Topsoil moisture levels rated 17% very short, 26% short, 56% adequate and 1% surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 20% very short, 32% short, 47% adequate and 1% surplus.

73% of Iowa corn crop reaches maturity
As of Oct. 1, the survey showed 97% of Iowa’s 2017 corn crop had reached dent stage or beyond, five days behind the five-year average. And 73% of the corn had reached maturity, six days behind last year and three days behind average. Six percent of the corn crop for grain has been harvested, nearly two weeks behind average. Moisture content of field corn being harvested was at 23%. Corn condition improved slightly to 60% good to excellent for the week.

The survey showed 97% of Iowa’s soybeans were turning color or beyond, three days ahead of last year and four days ahead of average. Also, 84% of soybeans were dropping leaves, four days ahead of average. And 16% of the soybean crop has been harvested, one day behind last year and three days behind average. Soybean condition also improved slightly with 61% good-to-excellent.

Pasture condition improved slightly to 22% good-to-excellent. Rain this past week prompted pastures to regrow and green up. Livestock are doing well.

Weather summary for Iowa
Harry Hillaker, state climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, provides the following summary for the week ended Oct. 1.

The past week began with very warm and humid weather on Sept. 24 with afternoon temperatures in mid-80s to lower 90s statewide. A strong cold front slowly moved into the state on Sept. 25 with highs reaching only the upper 50s in the far northwest, while lower 90s persisted over the east. Parts of eastern Iowa were in the low 80s on Sept. 26, while northwest Iowa saw highs in the mid-60s. The remainder of the week brought seasonal to slightly warmer-than-normal weather.

Temperature extremes for the week varied from highs of 93 degrees at Iowa City on Sept. 24-25, while Cresco recorded a low of 35 degrees the morning of Sept. 30. Temperatures for the week averaged 5.4 degrees above normal.

Warmer than normal, near-normal rainfall
Showers and thunderstorms slowly spread eastward across the state from Sept. 24 in the afternoon into the morning of Sept. 26. Heaviest rains were across the northwest one-half of the state where 1- to 2-nch amounts were common. Rain over east-central and southeast Iowa was mostly under one-half inch with some areas, such as Dubuque, Iowa City, Davenport and Mount Pleasant seeing no rain at all.

Some light-to-moderate rain fell over far northwest Iowa late on Sept. 30 into the morning of Oct. 1. Otherwise dry weather prevailed statewide from Tuesday afternoon through Saturday. Mondamin in Harrison County reported the most rain for the week with 4.16 inches. Statewide average rainfall was 0.90 inch, while normal for the week is 0.72 inch.

Record low rainfall for September in some areas
Record low September rain totals were recorded at Anamosa (0.36 inch) and Dubuque Lock & Dam (0.23). Even lower September monthly totals (as low as 0.05 inch) were recorded in the Burlington area but ranked behind the trace amounts reported in 1979 in that corner of the state.