Farmers rush to finish this year’s harvest

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

With a forecast predicting the possibility of snow by Monday evening, area farmers pushed through the weekend, working to get their corn and beans out of the fields.

They not only worked from sunrise to sundown, it was common for anyone driving through the county to see combine, tractor and truck lights flickering through the fields after dark and well into the evening, as well.

While previously lagging much of the rest of the state going into the harvest season, the north-central district that includes Floyd County has quickly caught up, with the weekly crop report issued Monday showing that 99% of the corn crop is mature and 99% of soybeans are dropping leaves.

The report, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, showed that 26% of the corn crop and 86% of the bean crop had been harvested in the north-central district as of Sunday.

Statewide, “95% of the corn crop has reached maturity, nearly 2 weeks behind average. Twenty-six percent of the crop has been harvested for grain, 8 days behind last year and 11 days behind average,” according to the report.

Moisture content of field corn being harvested for grain was at 21%. Corn condition rated 67% good to excellent.

Statewide, 97% of the soybean crop has begun dropping leaves or beyond, 10 days behind average. Sixty-six percent of the crop has been harvested, equal to last year but 6 days behind average.

Justin Glisan, state climatologist, said that the north-central corridor saw above average rainfall last week, while most of the rest of the state saw normal to below-normal rainfall.

“Unseasonable coolness persisted across the state with temperature departure up to six degrees below average,” Glisan said. “The statewide average temperature was 42.5 degrees, 6.9 degrees colder than expected.”