A dry start with rain near the end of the week allowed Iowa farmers 5.0 days suitable for fieldwork for the week ending July 26, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Activities for the week included cutting hay, aerial fungicide application to corn, and herbicide and insecticide application to soybeans. There were reports of crop stress due to the hot, dry weather, as well as weed problems in soybeans.
“The continued pattern of rain showers and storms moving across the state means crops generally have plenty of moisture, which is not usually the case in late July. While there are certainly areas that have seen some crop damage due to the weather, in general both corn and beans are in good condition across much of the state,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said.
Topsoil moisture levels statewide rated 6 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 16 percent surplus. Ratings in west central Iowa were 4 percent short, 89 percent adequate and 7 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture levels statewide rated 5 percent short, 79 percent adequate and 16 percent surplus. Ratings in west central Iowa were 3 percent short, 89 percent adequate and 8 percent surplus. Northwest Iowa was the driest area of the State with one-quarter rated very short to short on topsoil moisture.
Eighty-three percent (86 in WC Iowa) of the corn crop had reached the silking stage or beyond, with 11 percent reaching the dough stage. Corn condition rated 83 percent good to excellent.
Soybeans blooming or beyond reached 78 percent (85 percent in WC Iowa). Thirty-seven percent of soybeans were setting pods, slightly ahead of average. Soybean condition rated 76 percent good to excellent this week.
The first cutting of alfalfa hay neared completion, while the second cutting reached 68 percent, one day behind last year, and nearly a week behind the average. In west central Iowa, the second cutting is 92 percent complete. The third cutting of alfalfa hay got underway this week.
Iowa preliminary weather summary by Harry Hillaker, state climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship – The past reporting week began with cooler and drier than normal weather prevailing through Thursday, July 23. However, there was rain scattered over much of the state on Monday, July 20, but amounts were under one-third of an inch at all but a few locations with the early week storms.
Much warmer and more humid weather was the rule on Friday, July 24, and through the weekend. Thunderstorms brought rain to much of the eastern one-half of Iowa on Friday with heaviest rain in the Mason City area. Thunderstorms were also widespread across the southern one-third of the state on Saturday with rain falling over much of Iowa on Sunday morning.
Weekly rain totals varied from only 0.01 inches at Davenport up to 4.89 inches at the Mason City Airport. The statewide average precipitation amount was 1.27 inches while normal for the week is 0.98 inches. This was the sixth week of the past seven to bring above normal precipitation to Iowa. However, rain totals over these past seven weeks have been slightly below normal over much of the northern one-third of Iowa with rain totals well above normal over much of the southern portion of the state.
Temperatures for the week varied from a morning low of 48 degrees at Swea City in Kossuth County on Tuesday, July 21, to a Friday afternoon high of 97 degrees at Hawarden along the South Dakota border. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 0.2 degrees below normal with the weekend heat nearly cancelling out the earlier mild weather. The combination of heat and humidity pushed the heat index (what the air ‘feels like’) to 103 degrees at Sioux City on Friday and 101 degrees at Davenport and Iowa City on Saturday.
