DES MOINES ? Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today commented on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition report released by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service. The report is released weekly from April through October.
?It was a very good week of weather for farmers to finish planting, make hay and do needed spraying. The warm sunny weather was also very good for crop conditions with 77 percent of corn and 73 percent of beans rated good or excellent,? Northey said.
The weekly report is also available on the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship?s website atwww.IowaAgriculture.gov or on USDA?s site at www.nass.usda.gov/ia. The report summary follows here:
CROP REPORT
Dry weather conditions allowed farmers to make good progress on spring planting during the week ending June 4, 2017, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Statewide there were 6.0 days suitable for fieldwork, which were the most Iowa has had all season. Field activities for the week included planting and re-planting, applying herbicides, and harvesting the first crop of alfalfa hay.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 9 percent short, 85 percent adequate and 6 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 3 percent short, 87 percent adequate and 10 percent surplus.
Ninety percent of corn crop has emerged, six days behind last year and one day behind the 5-year average. Corn condition improved and rated 77 percent good to excellent. Soybean planting reached 91 percent complete, 2 days behind last year, but over a week ahead of average. Soybean emergence reached 62 percent, 1 day behind average. The first soybean condition rating of the season came in at 1 percent very poor, 3 percent poor, 23 percent fair, 62 percent good and 11 percent excellent. Oats headed reached 26 percent, 5 days behind last year and 1 day behind average. Oats condition improved to 78 percent good to excellent.
Dry weather allowed one-third of the first cutting of alfalfa hay to be harvested last week. Hay conditions improved to 85 percent good to excellent. Livestock conditions were reported as good with very little stress.
IOWA PRELIMINARY WEATHER SUMMARY
By Harry Hillaker, State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship
The past reporting week was very dry across Iowa with only occasional isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms. The week began with seasonal temperatures on Sunday (28th) with daytime high temperatures mostly in the seventies with a few isolated thunderstorms over the northwest on Sunday night. Monday (29th) through Thursday (1st) morning were unseasonably cool with overnight low temperatures mostly in the forties with daytime highs mostly in the seventies. There were a few isolated showers over the extreme north on Monday(29th) evening with dry weather statewide on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Much warmer air began to move into the state on Thursday with highs in the eighties statewide. Friday (2nd) brought high temperatures into the nineties over the northwest and warmer still on Saturday (3rd) with highs in the nineties across most of the state.
The most widespread rain of the week came on Friday when scattered thunderstorms brought rain to parts of southwest and south central Iowa. A few isolated thunderstorms developed over the northwest one-third of the state on Saturday afternoon and evening.
Finally a few light showers dampened some isolated areas of east central and southeast Iowa on Sunday (4th) morning. Temperature extremes for the week varied from Wednesday (31st) morning lows of 39 degrees at Chariton and Grinnell to a Friday (2nd) afternoon high of 95 degrees at Sioux City, only two degrees shy of the record high for the date at that location.
Temperatures for the week as a whole averaged 0.9 degrees above normal. Creston reported the most rain for the week with 1.28 inches while over one-half of the state recorded no rain at all. The statewide average rainfall was 0.05 inches while normal for the week is 1.10 inches. This was the driest week in 16 weeks (mid-February).
