Current Iowa weather, soil conditions are ‘what farmers dream about’

The corn planting window is wide open.

With the calendar, weather forecast and soil conditions all nearly ideal, Iowa farmers are expected to plant at least 5 million acres of corn by week's end.

'I really think it's what farmers dream about when they envision ideal planting conditions,” Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey said.

As of Monday, 14 percent of the state's corn acreage had been planted - about four days behind the five-year average - but Northey said that percentage will jump this week.

With their backs to the wall, Iowa farmers can plant 5 million to 6 million acres of corn in a week, said Northey, whose official duties during the ongoing bird flu crisis have kept him from planting on his Storm Lake farm.

Iowa topsoil has sufficient but not excessive moisture, and the warming forecast ensures soil temperature conducive to good germination, Northey said.

With much of the state's corn crop planted in late April and early May under ideal conditions, 'We won't have to subtract yield losses for planting not being done right and on time,” he said.

Iowa State University Extension corn specialist Mark Licht said Iowa farmers have the capacity to plant as much as 1.3 million acres of corn per day.

'This will be one of those kinds of weeks. We could easily see 1 million acres per day, most of it planted under ideal conditions,” Licht said.

'These are the best planting conditions we've had in at least four or five years,” Tracy Franck said Tuesday as he finished planting a field north of Quasqueton.

Franck said his 24-row planter can cover 32 acres per hour in good conditions. At that rate, he figured he would be done planting his approximately 1,200 acres of corn by this weekend.

Gesturing toward a pasture yellow with blooming dandelions, he said, 'When you see that, you know it's time to plant corn.”

Before the advent of hybrid corn seed - which can tolerate cooler soil than earlier open-pollinated varieties - Midwest farmers paid lip service to such adages as 'plant when oak leaves are the size of squirrel ears” and 'when the soil is warm enough to feel comfortable on a bare butt.”

'I couldn't even tell you how big a squirrel's ear is. We look at soil temperatures, and try to plant at the start of a warming forecast,” said Wayne Humphreys, who farms with his son, Justin, near Columbus Junction.

Justin Humphreys started planting corn Wednesday with a 12-row planter that can cover 18 acres per hour.

Though the Humphreys practice minimum tillage, pattern-tile drainage tends to offset any planting delays associated with the insulating and moisture retention properties of the additional crop residue on the surfaces of their fields, Justin Humphreys said.

Dewitt-area farmer Bob Bowman, a board member of the National Corn Growers Association, also started planting corn Wednesday.

'We are no-till, strip till people. We usually have to wait a little longer than folks who prep the soil with field cultivators for the soil to dry out and warm up,” said Bowman, a past president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Bowman said he plants corn with a 24-row machine retrofitted for increased precision with electric drive meters that essentially convert it into 24 single-row planters.

With that machine, Bowman said he can plant his largest field, which encompasses 370 acres, 'in one long day.”

As his farming operation includes many small, odd-shaped fields, Bowman said it typically takes from 10 days to two weeks to plant all his corn.

Iowa farmers are forecast to plant 13.6 million acres of corn, down 1 percent from 13.7 million acres in 2014. The state's farmers are expected to plant 10.1 million acres of soybeans, up 2 percent from 9.9 million acres in 2014.