Farmers attending field days in Iowa tell Wallaces Farmer their corn looks better than average for this time of year. Soybeans are moving into the critical pod-filling period, and most of them look pretty good, too. “We continue to see crops in good condition across the state, with 83% of corn and 82% soybeans rated in good or excellent condition,” notes Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey.

BIG CROP COMING: At the end of the first week of August, USDA’s statewide survey showed 61% of Iowa’s 2016 corn crop in the dough stage, which is 24% higher than the 2011-2015 average at this point in the growing season.

Survey shows a hefty 26% of Iowa’s corn crop is rated excellent
USDA’s latest weekly crop condition report, released August 8, showed 61% of Iowa’s 2016 corn is in the dough stage as of the week ending August 7. And 7% of the state’s corn crop is already dented. Only 4% of Iowa corn is rated poor to very poor, 13% is in fair condition, 57% is rated good and an incredible 26% of Iowa corn is considered to be in excellent condition.  

The complete weekly Iowa Crop Progress & Weather Report is available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship’s website IowaAgriculture.gov or on USDA’s site nass.usda.gov/ia. The report summary follows here:

Iowa subsoil moisture supplies are 83% adequate, 5% surplus
CROP REPORT: Frequent but scattered precipitation throughout the week allowed Iowa farmers 5.1 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending August 7, 2016, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Activities for the week included cutting hay and applying fungicide, and some insecticide applications.

Topsoil moisture levels rated 1% very short, 11% short, 83% adequate and 5% surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 2% very short, 10% short, 83% adequate and 5% surplus. South central and southeast Iowa reported the lowest levels of subsoil moisture with over one-quarter short to very short.

Soybeans blooming reached 94%, 6 days ahead of last year
At the end of last week, 98% of the Iowa corn crop had reached the silking stage, 11 days ahead of normal. And 61% reached the dough stage, five days ahead of last year and nine days ahead of the five-year average. Seven percent of Iowa’s corn crop reached dent stage. Corn condition rated 83% good to excellent. Soybeans blooming reached 94%, six days ahead of the previous year. Seventy-nine percent of soybeans were setting pods, one week ahead of normal. Soybean condition rated 82% good to excellent. And 90% of the oat crop for grain or seed has been harvested.

The second cutting of alfalfa hay reached 97% cut, more than two weeks ahead of last year and nine days ahead of normal. The third cutting of alfalfa hay was 42% complete, six days ahead of average. Hay condition rated 73% good to excellent, while pasture condition rated 62% good to excellent. Frequent rains have been good for pastures, but made it difficult to cut and bale hay. Livestock were reported to be in good condition with very little stress.

IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY—for week ended Aug. 7, 2016
By Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship

Very warm and humid weather prevailed from Monday (Aug. 1) through Thursday (Aug. 4). The hottest weather was on Thursday when actual temperatures peaked at 96 degrees F at Lamoni while the heat index reached 111 degrees at Newton, Perry and Shenandoah. Drier and cooler weather finished out the week with Sheldon and Spencer recording Saturday (Aug. 6) morning lows of 50 degrees. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 0.7 degrees above normal although much of far southern Iowa averaged a little cooler than usual thanks to heavier rainfall in that area.

Statewide rainfall last week was 1.25 inches; normal is almost 1 inch
Showers and thunderstorms were widespread over about the southwest one-half of Iowa on both Monday (Aug. 1) morning and Tuesday (Aug. 2) morning. Heavy rains of two to four inches were common from Carroll County to Ringgold County on Monday with 1 to 3 inch amounts common from near Knoxville south to Centerville and Bloomfield on Tuesday.

The most widespread rains of the week came on Thursday (Aug. 4) and Thursday night with rain falling over most of the southeast three-fourths of the state. High winds accompanied the Thursday storms over parts of central and northeastern Iowa. Weekly rain totals varied from only sprinkles at Swea City and Estherville to 4.83 inches at Mount Ayr and 4.68 inches at Creston. The statewide average precipitation was 1.25 inches while normal for the week is 0.96 inches.