Rain keeping Iowa farmers out of fields as optimal planting window shrinks
Farmers should plant their corn by next week to ensure their yields are maximized, but wet fields have stalled their progress, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Corn planting had been tracking ahead of the five-year average in April before last week’s rains touched every part of the state. There was a statewide average of 2.23 inches of precipitation, which was more than double what is typically expected for the period.
By Sunday, farmers had fallen about two days behind the five-year average for corn planting, the USDA reported.
“All this rain has basically stopped planting for most people,” said Meaghan Anderson, an Iowa State University Extension field agronomist who monitors central Iowa. “It might be the weekend before people can get back in the field.”
More: Iowa farmers head into fields, hoping rains will continue, help pull state out of drought
ISU research has shown that corn yields are typically highest in Iowa if farmers plant during a roughly four-week stretch from mid-April to mid-May. Yields start to diminish rapidly thereafter.
Planting in soil that is too wet can also stunt growth and yields.
Soybean planting in Iowa also lags
There are no indications of massive storms for the next week, said Cory Martin, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. Temperatures are expected to be about average for the rest of this week and to warm into next week.
“A lot of these guys are pretty experienced, and deep down they want to get in as soon as they can,” Gentry Sorenson, an Extension field agronomist in far northern Iowa, said of farmers in his area. “It doesn’t take long to accomplish what they need to do with the planting equipment they have.”
Soybean planting also was delayed by about a week by the rains, the USDA reported, and on Sunday it was about two days behind last year’s progress.
More: Iowa losing mid-size farms as smallest, largest ones increase, new U.S. ag census shows
The abundant rainfall in recent weeks has helped alleviate persistent drought conditions. About 84% of the topsoil in crop fields has adequate or surplus moisture. About 73% of subsoil rates the same.
Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions:kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Rain stalling Iowa farmers’ best opportunities to plant crops
