By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent

DES MOINES, Iowa — The combines of thousands of Iowa farmers ground to a halt once again when another cold snap – this time bringing heavy rains and unseasonably light snow – prevented them from wrapping up this fall’s harvest.

“Farmers were able to get in the field over the weekend and some harvesting is getting done,” said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn and soybeans in northern Iowa. “We are having one of the most challenging harvests in decades.”

As of last week, only 8 percent of Iowa’s soybeans and 4 percent of the corn were harvested. Much of that work was done Oct. 18, when warmer temperatures and dry breezes reached most of the state, according to the USDA’s Iowa Crops and Weather Report released on Oct. 19.

The report said there were only two days suitable for fieldwork during the week, compared to the five-year average of 4.6 days, with corn maturing or safe from frost reaching 93 percent, 2 percent ahead of last year, but 8 days behind the five-year average.
Moreover, 10 percent of the corn crop has been harvested for grain, 2 percent behind last year and two weeks behind the five-year average.

The report also said soybean leaf dropping reached 98 percent, 1 percent ahead of last year, but 1 percent behind the five-year average. This year’s soybeans harvested reached 37 percent, 41 percent behind last year and over two weeks behind the five-year average.

Jim Fawcett, Iowa State University field agronomist in Iowa City, said harvest progress is much behind normal – especially in eastern Iowa, where he oversees seven counties.

“Because of the late maturing crop and cooler-than-normal temperatures this fall, there will be very little drying in the field,” he said. “Even some soybeans (have) to be dried after harvest this fall.

“Farmers are finally getting some of the soybeans harvested. Yields in general are good, except in spots where sudden death was a problem. Very little corn has been harvested yet, with grain moistures mainly in the mid-upper 20s.”

What’s more, according to State Climatologist Harry Hillaker, the first 18 days of the month have been the coldest start to October on record in Iowa, with temperatures averaging 10.4 degrees below normal.

“Iowa endured another unseasonably cold week (Oct. 11) with frequent light precipitation,” he said. “Daytime temperatures failed to reach 50 degrees over most of the northern two-thirds of the state until Sunday (Oct. 18) when highs ranged from the mid 50s northeast to the mid 60s west.”

Hillaker said precipitation also moved back into the state on the evening of Oct. 13, with light rain statewide for the next two days, and about two inches of light snow again falling over parts of northwestern and north-central Iowa.

While the USDA recently predicted a record bumper crop for Iowa, Fawcett said the main problem with the cool weather has been reducing field drying and delaying harvest.

“Most of the corn and beans were mature or very close to maturity in this area when the freeze occurred, so it shouldn’t have hurt most farmers,” he said. “(But) there are some fields that were more than a week away from being mature when they froze, which will further reduce the test weight of the corn and could cause there to be some green (soy)beans.”

Although eastern Iowa farmers are telling Fawcett that their respective yields are “looking very good,” it’s going to be a long harvest season, nonetheless.

“There is some concern of not being able to get all of the corn harvested before the snow starts to fly,” he said. “Ear rots are fairly common in the area, which could cause storage problems.

“A lot of LP will need to be used this fall, but at least the LP price is lower than last fall.”