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Rain delays Iowa harvest finish, but alleviates some dryness
November’s start is the 10th wettest on record in the state
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This year's rapid harvest of corn — which is close to being complete in most parts of Iowa — has been slowed by persistent rainfall in recent weeks.
"If we didn't have that rain, we probably would be done with harvest," said Rebecca Vittetoe, an Iowa State University Extension field agronomist who monitors Eastern Iowa. "But we are also starting to replenish the moisture that we had used up during the growing season."
Last month was poised to be one of the driest Octobers on record in Iowa until there was significant, widespread rainfall on its last day, according to ISU data. At the time, the corn harvest was proceeding two weeks ahead of the five-year average.
November has had its 10th-wettest start in the state. The corn harvest is now 12 days ahead of the average, according to a Tuesday report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, with about 5 percent of the crop still in the field. The soybean harvest was completed toward the end of October.
“Between periods of rain last week, the unseasonably warm temperatures helped Iowa farmers continue to wrap up harvest and complete other field work,” Mike Naig, the state's agriculture secretary, said Tuesday in a statement.
The average air temperature in Iowa last week was about 9 degrees warmer than normal, State Climatologist Justin Glisan reported.
The rain reversed a worsening drought trend that developed in October. About half the state had severe drought near the end of that month, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor report, but it has receded.
A little more than half of the state's crop fields had adequate or surplus soil moisture at the start of the week, the USDA reported.
The recent rains also might lead to more cover crop planting, Vittetoe said.
Farmers planted rye, oats and other cover crops on about 17 percent of the state's total crop acres each of the past two years, according to the Iowa Nutrient Research and Education Council. The plants dramatically can reduce erosion between growing seasons — compared with leaving the fields bare — and improve soil health.
But because the ground had been so dry this fall, farmers worried whether the cover crop seed would sprout. With the recent rains, "some people thought it was still early enough to go ahead and plant them," Vittetoe said.
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