National Agricultural Statistics Service officials deemed six-point-one days suitable for field work during the week ending May 3. Additionally, ?warm, dry weather allowed Iowa farmers to advance planting well ahead of normal.?
Ethan Crow, of Marshalltown, attributes recent planting progress to the ?wonderful weather Iowa farmers have been blessed with the last two weeks.”
?We?ve gotten a lot of work done,? Crow said. ?I?d say most of my neighbors would agree – We?ve been working hard to get things going because we all remember how much of a nightmare last year was. We struggled with rain all of the time. Now that we have good weather, we feel like things are going right along and we?re getting a lot of work done.”
Iowa farmers last week planted 39-percent of the expected corn crop, boosting planting progress to 78-percent. “This is the first time since 2010 that at least three-quarters of the corn crop has been in the ground by May 3,” USDA-NASS officials notes.
They also report, “Forty-six percent of the soybean crop has been planted, a full month ahead of last year, the highest proportion of the soybean crop planted by May 3 since records began in 1974.”
Crow moved onto planting soybeans, which he expects to finish this week, if Mother Nature permits. He seems relieved by the “optimal” planting conditions, especially after last year’s challenges.
“We were still planting corn in June, so to have all of our corn planted in April and be able to watch the progress it makes… The same thing (goes) for soybeans – Getting soybeans planted in April and May instead of June. That takes a bit of pressure off, knowing that we at least captured an earlier season,” Crow said.
