The damp weather has mostly kept farmers in Iowa from starting spring fieldwork. There have been some fertilizer applications that have taken place as the weather allowed. Just 6% of the state’s intended oat acreage has been planted, which is nearly a week behind the five-year average for this date.

That’s the highlight summary of the weekly Iowa Crop Progress & Weather Report for the week ending April 2. This is the first of the weekly reports issued for the 2017 crop season. They are issued every Monday by USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service office in Des Moines, based on a statewide survey of local crop reporters.

The complete weekly report is at the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship’s site, iowaagriculture.gov, or on USDA’s site, nass.usda.gov/ia. Following is the crop report’s summary and IDALS state climatologist Harry Hillaker’s preliminary summary.

Summary of crop report
A rainy week prevented fieldwork across most of Iowa during the seven days ending April 2, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Statewide there was just 0.6 day suitable for fieldwork, with only northeast, central and southeast Iowa reporting one or more days suitable. Fertilizer, manure and anhydrous applications were made as conditions allowed.

Topsoil moisture levels rated 1% very short, 6% short, 67% adequate and 26% surplus. Subsoil moisture rated 2% very short, 6% short, 72% adequate and 20% surplus. South-central Iowa reported the highest surplus subsoil moisture level at 38%. However, just a week ago, according to USDA’s U.S. Drought Monitor, portions of south-central Iowa were still considered to be in a moderate drought along with much of southeast Iowa.

Looking at planting progress as of April 2, statewide only 6% of the oats have been planted, three days behind last year’s progress, and almost a week behind the five-year average. Livestock conditions are generally good, although muddy lots are reported to be an issue. Calving this spring is already complete for some cattle operations.

Weather summary for Iowa
It was a cloudy and damp week across Iowa. Rain fell statewide March 29- 30, with the heaviest precipitation falling across the south one-half of Iowa on March 29, with rain amounts over an inch common. Light rain also fell over southeast Iowa March 27-28 and over much of the state on April 2.

Weekly precipitation totals varied from 0.25 inch at Rock Valley in far northwest Iowa to 2.39 inches at Montrose in the far southeast. Statewide average rainfall was 1.01 inches, while normal for the week is 0.61 inch. This was the wettest week in 25 weeks (since early October).

Temperatures were mostly in the 40s and 50s, with little change from day to day, owing to persistent cloud cover. The weekly temperature extremes all came from northern Iowa, where occasional clear skies allowed daytime highs to climb higher and nighttime lows to fall lower. Lowest temperatures of 27 degrees F occurred at Battle Creek, Cherokee, Mapleton, Sheldon and Sioux City on the morning of March 28 and at Cresco, Decorah, Elkader and Vinton on the morning of April 1.

Highest temperatures came on the same dates and, in some cases, the same locations. Temperatures reached 63 degrees at Le Mars and Sioux City on March 28 and at Decorah on April 1. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged from 8 degrees above normal in far-northwest Iowa to 1 degree below normal over the extreme southeast. Soil temperatures as of April 2 were averaging in the mid-40s over nearly all of Iowa.