Southeast Iowa Crop Conditions

Cold soil temperatures kept many growers out of the field most of April and the first week of May. When temperatures improved, some areas received rain delaying progress further. Soil conditions at planting were very good in most cases. Many of the traditional wet areas of farms were dry enough to plant through once again this spring which was similar to last spring. The winds thus far have also been noteworthy. High winds for consecutive days have made spraying the first herbicide pass a challenge.

The weather forecast is calling for a cooling trend as we head into the weekend. Daytime highs in the 50 to 60s is common. The first half of next week also has chances of rain. Looking at the 6 to 10 day forecast. Temperatures look to be above normal with below normal chances of precipitation. Pictured below is NOAA’s most recent 6-10 temperature outlook map.

Memorial Day weekend last year brought freezing temperatures to our friends in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota. The temperatures dipped low enough requiring some areas or entire soybean fields to be replanted. That does not appear to be the case again this year.