Dry weather means soybean harvest almost completed in north-central Iowa

DES MOINES — The soybean harvest in north-central Iowa is almost complete, while the corn harvest locally is about half done. That’s according to the USDA Crop Report issued on Tuesday, one day late this week because of the Columbus Day federal holiday.

USDA Iowa Field office ag statistician Melissa Couch says the soybean harvest for the most part statewide is well ahead of average, with 90% of the soybeans having been harvested here in the north-central crop reporting district, tied with east-central Iowa for the highest percentage of soybeans harvested.  “Soybeans dropping leaves or beyond reached 98%. Nearly one-quarter of the soybean crop was harvested during the week ending October 13th reaching 81% complete, six days ahead of last year and ten days ahead of the average. Farmers in south-central Iowa remain considerably behind farmers in the rest of the state with just 54% of their soybean crop harvested.”

Couch says the corn harvest is also moving along nicely.  “Corn reached 97% mature or beyond. Corn harvested for grain reached 45%, three days ahead of last year and six days ahead of the five-year average. Corn moisture content fell two percentage points to 16%. Corn condition rated 76% good to excellent.” Here in the north-central district, 46% of the corn has been harvested for grain.

Couch adds that fire danger in fields remains a threat as north-central Iowa has seen little to no significant moisture. The National Weather Service reporting station at the Mason City Municipal Airport has only seen 0.43 of an inch of precipitation since September 1st, with September 15th being the last time the station had received at least a quarter-inch of precipitation in a 24-hour period.

See the full report here