Farmers holding their breath; don’t want early frost

By Bob Fenske, Editor@nhtrib.com

ISU Extension Agronomist Terry Basol couldn’t help but laugh when asked how soon fall allergy sufferers might get a break from ragweed pollen.

“Sorry,” he said. “We need you to live with your allergies for at least another month, because the last thing we need now is an early frost.”

Basol, who is based in Nashua, said area farmers could very well bring in solid yields when they begin harvesting either late this month or in October.

“In our neck of the woods, we’ve got a chance to have a pretty nice crop,” he said. “We’re sitting in the garden spot, if you will. Considering how this growing season started with all the rain and stuff, we’re not sitting too bad. We’re not there yet, and honestly, we can use a little rain.”

Still, he said, Mother Nature has been relatively kind to farmers in recent weeks.

Cooler weather has helped because it has put less stress on both soybean and corn plants. He said beans are still filling out their pods while corn is still collecting dry matter, which will lead to better yields.

He said farmers have been hoping for a little more rain, and a band of thunderstorms moving through the area Monday provided some relief.

Parts of Floyd and Chickasaw counties were in the “abnormally dry” category, according to the latest state drought map, although there are no parts listed among the drought categories in this area, as there are farther south in the state.

“All that moisture this spring actually turned out to be a good thing, Basol said. “There are places not too far from here, like in central and southern Iowa, where we’re seeing some real drought effects.”

However, that first killing frost, which is defined as any night where the temperature drops to 28 degrees or lower, needs to be normal to late this year for farmers to have their best chance at good yields.

“The bottom line is we got behind in the spring, and we’re catching up, but an early frost would really hurt us,” Basol said.
The latest state crop report, issued Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shows 91% of the corn crop was in or beyond the dough stage, 2 weeks behind last year and 12 days behind the 5-year average.

Sixty percent of the crop reached the dented stage, 2 weeks behind last year and 9 days behind average. Four percent of corn had reached maturity, 11 days behind average.

The corn crop condition rated 63 percent good to excellent.

Drier than normal conditions prevailed across most of Iowa during the first week of September, according to Justin Glisan, state climatologist.

Precipitation deficits were under three-quarters of an inch across much of the state with only the southwest corner of Iowa reporting above average totals.

Temperatures were generally seasonable with departures of one to two degrees above and below average in parts of western and eastern Iowa, respectively.

The statewide average temperature for the week was 66.8 degrees, 1.8 degrees below normal, Glisan said.

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig commented Monday on the report.
“Near seasonal temperatures along with the pattern of dry conditions continued across most of the state last week,” said Naig. “With 4% of the corn and 15% of the soybeans nearing maturity, farmers are starting to prepare equipment for harvest.”

About 94% of the soybean crop has started setting pods, according to the weekly report. That’s 18 days behind last year and nearly 2 weeks behind the state average.

Fifteen percent of the crop has begun coloring, 12 days behind last year and 9 days behind average.

Soybean condition rated 61 percent good to excellent.

Naig also commented on the USDA’s announcement of $3 billion in disaster relief.

“Across the state of Iowa, our farmers have sustained significant losses from spring weather events,” he said.

“We appreciate the USDA taking action to provide much-needed resources to the farmers, agribusinesses and communities hardest hit by the spring flooding.”

Stored-grain payments will be based on 75 percent of the crop’s 2018 value, based on the assumption that the grain was harvested last year, according to the USDA.