Iowa corn moves ahead of schedule

Corn inched ahead of schedule last week with a reported 18 percent of Iowa corn acres reaching the dough stage, according to the crop progress and condition report.

While the heavy rain the past several weeks may have helped crops along, some farmers saw standing water and surplus moisture in their fields.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said July precipitation totals for the state already were above normal levels.

According to the state mesonet, parts of the state have had more than 7 inches of rain this month. The average precipitation across the state for the July 14-20 reporting period was 1.88 inches, while normal is 1.02 inches.

“Unfortunately, saturated soils and increased streamflow have led to localized issues with standing water and flash flooding in some areas,” Naig said in a statement.

According to the crop progress and condition report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, north-central Iowa had the wettest soils during the past week. Thirty-five percent of the region’s topsoil and 37 percent of its subsoil moisture rated as surplus. On average, 21 percent of topsoil and 17 percent of subsoil moisture conditions across the state were in surplus for the reporting period, and both subsoil and topsoil rated 72 percent adequate in the state.

Aside from the ahead-of-schedule corn that entered the dough stage, Iowa crops were right on schedule for the reporting period.

Corn silking reached 62 percent and corn condition rated 86 percent good to excellent.

Soybeans continued to progress with 69 percent of the crop blooming across the state and 33 percent already setting pods. Soybean acres rated 80 percent good or excellent for the reporting period.

Alfalfa hay farmers are slightly ahead of the average cutting schedule, with farmers finished with their second cutting of the crop on 79 percent of acres and finished with a third cutting on 17 percent of hay acres.

Thirty-five of Iowa’s oat acres have been harvested, and farmers in southern regions of the state have harvested more than half of their oats. Oats rated 68 percent good and 16 percent excellent for the period.

“While overall crop progress has benefited from the wetter conditions and somewhat milder temperatures, attention is now turning to the heat dome building in over the state, which will bring hot temperatures and humidity this week,” Naig said.

Temperature outlooks from the National Weather Service show highs in the low 90s and upper 80s across the state for the rest of the week.

This story originally appeared in Iowa Capital Dispatch.