Already-saturated fields, along with heavy rains last Friday, limited fieldwork to 3.9 suitable days, with scattered reports of SDS and white mold in soybean fields for the week ending Aug. 30, according to the Aug. 31 Iowa Crop & Weather report.

"The heavy rains that rolled through north-central Iowa late last week caused flash-flooding and created real challenges for farmers and communities," said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey last week. "But, in general, crops continue to move towards maturity and remain in pretty good condition, with 81 percent of corn and 76 percent of soybeans rated good to excellent."

State Meteorologist Harry Hillaker said weekly rain totals varied from only sprinkles at Bloomfield, Fairfield, Mount Pleasant, Burlington, Fort Madison and Keokuk, to 6.59 inches at Steamboat Rock in Hardin County. "However, unofficial rain totals between 9 and 10 inches were received from southeast Webster and southern Hamilton counties," he said.

The report said 95 percent of corn reached the dough stage or beyond, with 57 percent dented or beyond and 3 percent mature. It said 95 percent of soybeans set pods or beyond, while 11 percent were turning color and some fields were dropping leaves.

Clarke McGrath, on-farm research and extension coordinator at Iowa State University’s Iowa Soybean Research Center in Harlan, said last week while soybean planting was delayed in many areas in southwest and west-central Iowa, "We were able to fight through the weather windows and get most of the corn in on time. We are a little behind on heat units, so we could see some wetter-than-normal corn, unless we get a run of some heat units to wrap up the season."

The report added oats harvested for grain or seed was "virtually complete," with the second cutting of alfalfa hay nearing completion, and the third cutting 67 percent complete.