With the Labor Day holiday weekend passed, Iowa farmers are now turning their attention more fully to the upcoming harvest season. According to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report, the weather allowed for 5.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Sept. 1, during which most of the activity focused on readying for harvest. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says, “September is always a busy month as farmers are beginning to make harvest preparations while also seeding cover crops and chopping silage. As this year’s crop heads toward maturity, the outlook for the first half of September indicates the continuation of warm and dry conditions.” Corn in the dough stage or beyond reached 94 percent this week. Sixty-one percent of the corn crop reached the dent stage, five days behind last year and a day behind the five-year average. Mature corn reached 10 percent, two days behind last year but a day ahead of the five-year average. Corn conditions rated 77 percent good to excellent. Soybeans setting pods reached 95 percent. Soybeans coloring reached 18 percent, four days behind last year and two days behind the five-year average. Soybeans dropping leaves began at two percent. Soybean conditions were 77 percent good to excellent. Topsoil moisture conditions rated 22 percent short to very short, 76 percent adequate, and two percent surplus. Subsoil moisture conditions rated 22 percent short to very short, 75 percent adequate, and three percent surplus. The week’s full report is available online at www.nass.usda.gov.
