CHARITON, Iowa — Despite the snow and bitter cold temperatures that have stymied the close of Iowa harvest season across portions of the state, Chariton farmer Michael Hunter had already planned on getting all his crops in by the end of Thanksgiving weekend.
While he’s done combining his soybeans, he still had about one third of his corn standing in the field.
"We had to wait two days for the snow to melt off stalks, but we started back up again," Hunter said. "For the most part, corn is still standing well. There’s a little bit of lodging, but it’s still pickable."
According to the Nov. 17 Iowa Crop & Weather Report, Iowa farmers used the five suitable days for fieldwork to harvest one-tenth of the state’s corn crop during the week ending Nov. 16, before an early blast of bitterly cold temperatures hit and snow blanketed much of the state, halting combining.
"Unfortunately, the snow and bitter cold weather creates challenges for farmers that still have crops in the field," said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.
State Meteorologist Harry Hillaker said Nov. 16’s temperatures were the lowest recorded in Iowa for so early in the season since 1991 when Hawarden recorded minus 19 degrees on Nov. 7. Temperatures for the week averaged 11.5 degrees below normal, while snow fell statewide on Monday into Tuesday morning, with the greatest amounts of an inch or two across north-central Iowa.
The Nov. 24 Iowa Crop & Weather Report said 96 percent of Iowa’s corn acreage was harvested, equal to 2013, but two days ahead of the five-year average. Corn harvest in south-central Iowa, however, continued to trail behind the rest of the state, with only 85 percent complete.
Moreover, isolated corn fields still remain to be harvested, with soils frozen to a depth of 5 to 9 inches as of Friday, Nov. 21, the report stated, which were completely thawed in many areas by Sunday, Nov. 23. Soybean harvest is nearly 99 percent complete, the report added.
In Des Moines, Hillaker said a streak of 252 consecutive hours with temperatures below freezing ended at noon on Friday, Nov. 21 – a streak that was 48 hours longer than previously experienced during 137 years of November weather records in the state’s capital.
Hillaker added that temperature extremes varied from a Friday morning low of minus 6 degrees at Stanley to Saturday afternoon highs of 57 degrees at numerous southeast Iowa locations.
While it isn’t unusual to harvest during the latter part of November, there is a sense of urgency among Iowa farmers. During the past five years, USDA statistics showed 10 percent of corn is usually still in fields at this time of year, with soybeans usually finished by then.
That’s especially true since in November, the USDA adjusted harvested soybeans to 3.96 billion bushels, up 31 million bushels from October’s estimate. Fifteen states, including Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and South Dakota, are expecting record crops, with the average yield at 47.5 bushels per acre.
With average yields at current cash prices, there’s more than $640 million of corn and more than $100 million of soybeans left in the fields, the USDA estimated.
"Hopefully, we’ll get our corn out (by Thanksgiving weekend)," Hunter said. "The cold isn’t an issue, but I don’t need rain. That will make harvest more challenging."
