Iowa farmers took advantage of the 4.9 days suitable for fieldwork to finish oat harvest, chop corn silage, and start seed corn harvest during the week ending Sept. 6, though scattered but heavy showers kept some fields too wet to work, according the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Corn for grain continues to mature. There were some reports of pressure on corn from disease.
Topsoil moisture levels statewide rate 6 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 16 percent surplus, unchanged from last week. Topsoil moisture levels in west central Iowa rated 2 percent short, 82 percent adequate and 20 percent surplus.
Subsoil moisture levels statewide rated 7 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 15 percent surplus. Ratings in west central Iowa were 1 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 18 percent surplus. Heavier rains in central Iowa resulted in 36 percent surplus moisture.
Seventy-six percent of the corn crop was in the dent stage or beyond, with 10 percent mature, three days ahead of last year but nine days behind the 5-year average. Corn condition rated 79 percent good to excellent.
Ninety-seven percent of soybeans were setting pods or beyond, while 33 percent of soybeans were turning color, three days ahead of 2014, but one day behind normal. Five percent of soybeans have begun dropping leaves. Soybean condition rated 76 percent good to excellent.
The third cutting of alfalfa hay is 76 percent complete, 12 days ahead of last year, but five days behind average. Pasture condition rated 64 percent good to excellent. Hot days resulted in heat stress for some livestock.
Iowa preliminary weather summary by Harry Hillaker, state climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship – It was an unseasonably warm and dry week across Iowa. The reporting week began with temperatures slightly above normal on Sunday and Monday, Aug. 30-31, but was very warm and humid for the remainder of the week. Daytime highs were mostly in the mid to upper 80s across northern Iowa and in the low- to mid-90s across the south.
Temperature extremes varied from Sunday afternoon highs Sept. 6 of 96 degrees at Glenwood and Sidney to a Monday morning (Aug. 31) low of 55 degrees at Maquoketa. Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 10.0 degrees above normal, making this the warmest week of the year.
Most of the week’s rain fell from southwest to north central Iowa on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning (July 1-2) with just a few southwest Iowa locations receiving over an inch of rain. Bedford reported the most rain with 1.44 inches while much of the northwest and southeast corners of the state recorded no measurable rain. The statewide average precipitation was 0.16 inches while normal for the week is 0.84 inches. This was the driest week in 18 weeks (late April/early May).
Locally heavy rain fell Sunday evening and Sunday night (Sept. 6), particularly across central and south central Iowa, but fell too late to be reflected in this week’s crop statistics.
