Crop Updates from Iowa Corn Leaders – Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Posted on July 8, 2014 at 9:54 PM by Iowa Corn
Strong storms and wet fields continue to stress some crops and create challenges for famers needing to make hay, spray weeds or side-dress fertilizer, according to the weekly crop report from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. There have been scattered reports of corn silking across Iowa. Seventy-six percent of the corn crop is reported in good to excellent condition. Twenty-one percent of the soybean acreage was blooming. A few farmers reported soybeans setting pods.
After heavy rains and wet fields for the past two weeks, Bob Bowman of DeWitt, president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB), has been able to do a little field work this week. He had some late-season side-dressing left to do on his corn and was not able to get into the fields. Now, the corn is too big for side-dressing, so he and his son are “dribbling” a little nitrogen on the crops using a high-boy sprayer. They are also trying to apply some second-pass herbicides on their soybeans. He had plenty of rain and some ponding of soybeans. He would actually like a light rain to wash soil off the soybean plants. The corn he planted in April is starting to tassel. However, there is also corn that was planted later and is only waist high. Despite all of these issues, the crops still look very good.
Nick Leibold of New Hampton says the recent good weather has helped the crops look better in his area. There is a lot of spraying happening in his area. Some crops in his area had hail damage a week ago. He thinks there will be some yield reductions due to the hail damage, but many of the crops look a lot better and will likely rebound somewhat. Some of the livestock farmers in the area are busy making hay. Leibold says the crops look promising at this point.
Roger Zylstra of Lynnville, president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says his crops are rebounding from the heavy rain a week ago that also resulted in some field ponding. He missed the heavy rain and storms that fell in parts of the state last night (Monday). The crops are drying out and look very good. The corn is starting to tassel. He says he’s starting to feel optimistic about the crop.
Carl Jardon of Randolph received 1.90 inches of rain on Saturday morning, July 5. Heavy rains surrounded his area, but he was fortunate not to receive too much. He had more rain on Monday night. It was hot and humid recently which has been great for corn. Almost all of the corn has tasseled in his area. They have harvested their first batch of sweet corn. The crops continue to look very good.
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