Warmer temperatures and sunshine improved field conditions in Iowa during the week ending June 7, according to the June 8 Iowa Crop & Weather report, allowing farmers to continue planting.

"Hopefully, some warm temperatures and dry weather will allow farmers to get back in the fields to finish planting if need be and do other needed fieldwork such as spraying and sidedressing fertilizer," said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

State Meteorologist Harry Hillaker said the previous week’s temperature extremes ranged from a morning low of 36 degrees in Elkader to an afternoon high of 88 in Vinton.

The report said 96 percent of corn has emerged, with 82 percent rated good to excellent, and soybean planting reached 88 percent complete with 71 percent emerging. The report added southwestern and south-central Iowa continued to lag behind planting of their expected soybean acreage with only 51 and 65 percent, respectively.

The report also said 24 percent of oats was at or beyond the heading stage, adding farmers were able to harvest almost a third of the first cutting of alfalfa hay, with 49 percent complete.

Virgil Schmitt, Iowa State University field agronomist, recently started to see cornfields with areas that were stunted with the lower leaves yellowing and browning along the margins, indicating a potassium (K) deficiency.

"This year, compaction, planter slots that open back up, erosion, and shallow planting, either individually or in some combination, are the most common culprits," he said, showing up in no-till fields and in fields with all degrees of tillage.

Schmitt advised farmers if their soil hasn’t recently been tested, "soil samples should be taken to make sure it is not a true K deficiency problem."