The statewide rainfall last week limited farmers to 4.2 days suitable for field work, but most didn’t mind a bit. “This past week’s widespread rainfall brought much-needed relief to farmers as the crop enters an important period in the growing season,” says Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Naig. “Forecasts continue to show promising chances of rain and seasonal temperatures in the week ahead.” According to the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending July 11, that rainfall brought topsoil moisture ratings up with 60 percent now rated adequate or at surplus. Subsoil moistures are now at 44 percent adequate to surplus. Manning reported one of the highest rainfall totals in the state Wednesday, July 7 at 2.47 inches while a small segment of western Iowa counties, from Plymouth to Carroll, received over 1.5 inches around midnight on Thursday, July 8. There were some scattered reports of crops laying flat due to strong winds and hail that accompanied some of the rainfall on Friday, where golf to tennis-ball sized hail was reported from Woodward in Dallas County to Carlisle in Warren County while three-inch hailstones were reported in Beaverdale in Polk County. Field activities for the past week included hauling grain, applying fungicides and harvesting of hay and oats. Iowa corn conditions also improved slightly with the rains, now rated at 66 percent good to excellent with scattered reports of corn reaching the dough stage. Fifty-six percent of the soybean crop is blooming, five days ahead of the five-year average. Soybean conditions also improved to 65 percent good to excellent. The full report can be found at nass.usda.gov.
