Warm and dry weather allowed Iowa farmers to harvest nearly one-third of the state’s soybean crop during the week ending Oct. 11, according the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Statewide there were 6.8 days suitable for fieldwork, the most days suitable for fieldwork this season. Fieldwork activities for the week included cutting hay, harvesting corn for grain, harvesting soybeans, and fall tillage. There were also reports of manure and fertilizer being spread, as well as some grain hauling.
Topsoil moisture levels statewide rated 1 percent very short, 12 percent short, 81 percent adequate, and 6 percent surplus. Levels in west central Iowa were 6 percent short, 86 percent adequate and 6 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture levels statewide rated 1 percent very short, 8 percent short, 83 percent adequate and 8 percent surplus. Levels in west central Iowa were 2 percent short, 86 percent adequate and 12 percent surpluse.
Ninety-six percent of the corn crop was mature, eight days ahead of last year, and four days ahead of the 5-year average. Twenty-nine percent of the corn crop for grain has been harvested, 12 days ahead of last year, but five days behind average. Moisture content of all corn being harvested was at 19 percent, down 2 percentage points from the previous week. Corn condition rated 80 percent good to excellent.
Ninety-five percent of soybeans were dropping leaves, three days ahead of normal. Sixty-five percent of the soybean crop has been harvested, 10 days ahead of last year.
The third cutting of alfalfa hay is nearly complete, 11 days behind the average. Pasture condition rated 62 percent good to excellent. Livestock conditions were described as good, with mild temperatures and little to no rain.
Iowa preliminary weather summary by Harry Hillaker, state climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship – It was a dry and unseasonably warm week across Iowa. Only a handful of locations reported any rain. Castana (Monona County) and Schleswig (Crawford County) picked up 0.02 inches of rain Tuesday morning, Oct. 6. A few thunderstorms were scattered across east central and southeast Iowa on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 8, but only Keokuk reported any measurable rain with 0.19 inches. The statewide average precipitation was just a trace while normal for the week is 0.60 inches. This was the driest week since mid-March.
Temperatures were above normal throughout the week with the exception of a brief cool-down on Friday into Saturday morning, Oct. 9-10. Elkader and Decorah recorded the week’s lowest temperatures with Saturday morning readings of 33 degrees. Temperatures were well above seasonal norms from Tuesday through Thursday. However, the warmest weather arrived on Sunday, Oct. 11, when highs were in the 80s over most of Iowa. Sioux City and Omaha-Council Bluffs set daily record high temperatures with 91 degree readings. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged from three degrees above normal over the far southeast to nine degrees above normal across the northwest with a statewide average of 6.6 degrees above normal. Soil temperatures as of Sunday, Oct. 11, were averaging in the upper 50s northeast to mid-60s southwest.
