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Iowa’s corn 75 percent in; rest of Midwest far behind

By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

DES MOINES, Iowa — Despite the wet field conditions across a large swath of Iowa fields that had stalled planting late last month, farmers are well ahead of schedule, with close to 75 percent of corn already in the ground.

“Wet weather statewide last week slowed planting to a near stop and caused erosion in recently worked fields,” said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

“The drier weather this weekend (April 25-26) was welcome, but warmer temperatures are still needed. Soil temps have been low, which slows germination and is causing emergence to be behind the five-year average.”

The May 4 USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) Iowa Crops and Weather Report said heavy rains produced severe erosion in parts of the state and halted planting for most of the week. In fact, one farmer commented it was the worst erosion he’d ever seen.

Jim Fawcett, Iowa State University field agronomist in eastern Iowa, said recent rains have been scattered, which made planting progress significantly varied from farmer to farmer.

“It’s been wetter in the south where many producers may have half of their corn yet to plant, but many are done with corn in the north and now planting beans,” he said.

The report said soybean planting advanced to 6 percent complete, while 96 percent of the oat acreage had been planted. Iowa’s corn planting contrasts greatly with progress in other Midwest and Southern states, thanks to heavy, steady rainfall and cool temperatures.

Indiana

Indiana farmers are far behind planting their corn crop, according to figures released last week – as of May 4, 5 percent of the state’s corn crop had been planted, compared to 32 percent at the same time last year.

The five-year average for the same time period is 47 percent. “Another week of rainy weather has left saturated soils, with close to an inch up to 3.5 inches falling across different parts of the state,” said Greg Matli, deputy director of the Indiana NASS field office.

Planting is about 10 days behind last year and 18 days behind the average pace, the NASS report said. Farmers in the southern part of Indiana have planted 8 percent of their crop, while those in the central and northern parts of the state have planted 4 percent.
At the same time last year, farmers in the central part of the state had planted 45 percent; in the north, 37 percent, and in the south, 20 percent.

“It is troubling. This last bit of rain really soaked the fields,” said Greg Preston, director of the Indiana NASS office. “And if it’s too cool, there’s no point in pushing seed into the ground.”

By Michele F. Mihaljevich
Indiana Correspondent

Illinois
“Our most recent report shows data as of May 4, and we show 5 percent of corn planted,” said Mark Schleusener of the Illinois NASS field office. “That is compared to 66 percent over the last five years, averaged together. One year ago, 2008, was also a slow planting season. We were 25 percent planted as of May 4.”

Schleusener said the last time planting was this slow in Illinois was 1993. “If we can get four or five good days in a row, Illinois farmers with modern equipment will catch up very quickly,” he said.

Repeated low-pressure storm systems brought periodic, moderate-to-heavy rains to central and southeastern Illinois this spring, according to the National Weather Service office in Lincoln. Both the Peoria and Galesburg areas were close to setting records for combined March/April precipitation, with Peoria County experiencing its wettest-ever March (7.49 inches) since record keeping began in 1893.

Galesburg, with 6.63 inches, fell just shy of its all-time mark for March since 1895. The rain kept coming in April, with Peoria recording 6.51 inches of rain while Galesburg tallied another 5.11 inches (as of April 29).

“With April having a series of rains that were separated by a few days – though there were some very nice days – the soil never had a chance to dry out, and farmers couldn’t put the seed in the ground and complete their tillage,” said Schleusener.
Emerson Nafziger, an extension crop expert with the University of Illinois, noted that as of early May much of Illinois was still experiencing cool temperatures and slow drying rates, along with wet soils. However, Nafziger wrote in a column posted on the UoI Bulletin website, “Late planting did not hurt yields nearly as much in 2008 as we had predicted.”

On May 6, a slow-moving storm system dumped more rain over most of Illinois, causing further problems for farmers who are still trying to plant corn.
By Tim Alexander
Illinois Correspondent

Ohio
In Ohio, April showers may result in superb flowers, but it’s been detrimental to corn. Wayne Matthews, director of NASS’ Ohio field office, said the wet spring is bad news for corn growers.

“During the first three weeks in April we had 3.55 inches of rainfall, and that’s too much,” he said.

“The excess rain that we’ve had has stretched across the state, not just in some parts.

“We need things a lot drier to get that corn in the ground, and right now things don’t look so good. Ohio is 4 percent planted (as of last week), compared to 8 percent this time a year ago. By comparison, between 2004 and 2008 the average at this time of year was 26 percent, so we’re down considerably.”

Butler County extension specialist Steve Bartels has kept a watchful eye in southwestern Ohio. “On April 27 a few farmers in the area got a few seeds in the ground,” he said. “The next day they were in the fields in earnest, but they’re short of getting in what they need planted.”

The past two planting seasons in Ohio have been just as dismal. In 2007, 3.61 million acres of corn were harvested. That number slipped to 3.12 million acres in 2008.

The top counties in corn are Darke, Mercer, Wood, Madison and Fayette. These are expected to have the top yields, yet still much lower than in 2008, thanks to increased rainfall.

“We’ve had a pretty wet spring so far,” Matthews said. “Ohio farmers are seeing a lot of topsoil moisture, so it’s keeping them out of their fields. In the first two weeks in April there were just two suitable days to get into those fields. By the third week in April the Ohio farmers normally have most of the corn planted, but they’re running 22 percent behind.”
By Doug Graves
Ohio Correspondent

5/14/2009