Farm News, IA
10-26-07
Area farmers anxiously await dry weather
By Kristin Danley-Greiner, Farm News staff writer
From wagons to semi trucks, grain deliveries of all sizes arrived at the Farmers
Co-op in Yetter non-stop on Oct. 22 as farmers headed back to the fields
following an extended period of rain the previous week.
Last week, farmers were kept out of the fields by intermittently heavy rain
showers that resulted in upwards of 6 inches of rain falling in a two-day period in
some counties, which further prompted flooding and left fields underwater. While
last Saturday and Sunday were fairly sunny, the fields were just too mucky in
some places for harvest to resume.
As of Oct. 14, 63 percent of the nearly 14 million acres of corn in the state
remained mature, yet unharvested. Eighteen percent of Iowa’s unharvested corn
is either moderately or heavily lodged, according to the USDA National
Agriculture Statistics Service report released last week. Lodged corn not only
slows down harvest dramatically, but it also increases the possibility of harvest
losses. Corn in flooded fields likely will not stand upright and healthy for much
longer, which will predispose the ears to an increased chance of mold infections.
While upright ears and open husks can serve as funnels and receptacles for
water, given enough moisture and warm temperatures, corn on the ear will
germinate, reducing grain quality.
Producer Keith Sexton in Calhoun County said last Saturday that most fields in
his immediate area had standing water.
“We have only had 2.5 to 3 inches of rain in the past week, but when the soil is
pretty well saturated to start with, no active plant growth to take up moisture and
no warm, sunny days with a mild breeze, it seems to take about three or four
times as long for soils to get back to fit condition as it did in the summer,” he said.
“We were able to harvest last Saturday, but have not turned a wheel since.”
Ray Gaesser, a soybean and corn grower from Corning, said that fields in his
area have been “very wet,” with another four to six inches falling from Oct. 12
through Oct. 19. No harvesting was done at that time, obviously.
“A few are harvesting corn today, but they are making ruts in parts of the fields,”
Gaesser said on Oct. 20. “We are 90 percent finished with soybeans and 30
percent finished with corn. In our area, soybeans are 60 to 70 percent harvested
and corn 30 to 40 percent harvested. Soybeans are excellent and corn is about
average—many fields of wind damaged corn.”
Rolfe producer Curt Sindergard said last week that the fields in his area were
“completely waterlogged.”
“They were not good before this, and are considerably worse after the rains that
we have had since Sunday, Oct. 14,” he said. “We have been out of the fields a
few days at a time all harvest because of rain, but we have been out all of the
week of Oct. 14-20. The rains have not allowed for very much fall tillage to be
done. This is also of great concern to the farmers in this area.”
In Sindergard’s area, the beans have been mostly harvested, but quite a few
corn fields must still be harvested.
“We are finished with the beans and probably about 75 percent done with the
corn,” he said last week. “There are still a few beans left in the area and a lot of
guys are probably at least half done with corn. The corn stalks are all
deteriorating rapidly now and this means that the corn that is standing is at risk of
going down. There has been a lot of down corn in this area due to strong winds
that occurred mostly in the latter part of August.”
Even elevator operators have been reporting cases of mold damage levels 5
percent and higher in the current corn crop, with an unusual mix of mold types,
and sprouting from prolonged moist conditions. In normal years, overall mold
damage levels are generally less than 2 percent in freshly harvested corn.
While the strength of corn plants through the heavy rains, high winds and pools
of water have surprised a few, some farmers like Sindergard are concerned
about the crop. In Sexton’s area, almost all of the beans had been harvested as
of last week, but only 35 to 40 percent of the corn had been touched.
“I am amazed that the corn plants are still standing fairly good. However, the
stalks are becoming ‘blacker,’ which makes me concerned about how much
longer their structural integrity will remain strong enough to hold the ear up off the
ground,” Sexton said.
Field conditions are “pretty tough” in Iowa State University (ISU) Extension
field agronomist Mark Licht’s coverage area.
“After a good five days of rain and no field movement through today (10-19) and
very little expected until Sunday or Monday—barring no rain—with this prolonged
cool and wet spell, field conditions are pretty tough,” he said. “There are wet
spots that are not normally problematic during fall harvest. Additionally, grain
quality problems in corn are increasing. Stalk rots and ear rots are becoming
more prevalent. In some cases, ears are dropping and stalks are lodging due to
poor quality and winds.”
In Licht’s area of west central Iowa, harvest stopped Oct. 13 and had not begun
as of Oct. 19.
“I would expect some with lighter soils to be able to start up again this weekend
(10-20/10-21) and others to get started again early next week—again, barring no
more rain,” Licht said. “I would gauge harvest of soybeans to be in 50 to 85
percent complete and corn to be 25 to 50 percent complete—in general, more
complete to the east and less complete to the west.”
Farmers in Greene, Boone and Story are “really wet,” according to ISU field
agronomist John Holmes, who serves central Iowa. He said that fields are
soggy in his area and harvest would not resume until sometime this week. Along
Highway 3 in his area, rainfall amounts were less than two inches, while south of
Highway 20, rainfall increased significantly.
“In some areas, farmers will get back in the fields this weekend (10-20/10-21)–
on the well drained fields,” he said. “Most farmers won’t be in their fields until
next week; some won’t be able to get in until Wednesday or Thursday. The
remaining soybeans are standing well, but I have heard reports that the
soybeans are beginning to shatter. Stalk quality in corn is deteriorating due to
stalk rot; hence, lodging is becoming more of a worry to farmers. The grain is
dry.”
While there are a few places in Holmes’ areas with some soybeans left to
harvest, most are almost done, he said.
“This is not the case statewide; southwest Iowa probably has better than 50
percent of their soybeans still in the field,” he said last week. “Even in central
Iowa (Highway 30 and Interstate 80), there are many fields of soybeans left. If
conditions were decent, most central Iowa farmers would be finished in a couple
of days. Corn harvest is in full swing. Depending where you’re at, the harvest
ranges from ‘just nicely started’ to nearly 75 percent complete.”
Farmers with land along the Missouri River Bottom are having serious problems.
They are in ISU Extension field specialist Joel DeJong’s coverage area and
he said that some areas have standing water after last week’s rains.
“Last Friday was the last field day (10/13) – and most haven’t been back since.
Some neighborhoods have almost half of the beans left—most are closer to done
with beans. Also, as you get closer to Minnesota, more corn is out, less as we
get closer to Sioux City. I don’t think 20 percent is out around here in LeMars.
Parts of Plymouth County are reporting aflatoxin issues,” he said. “Corn is
looking tougher all the time with this rain. We will see what the winds that were
predicted will do to the corn.”
Iowa State’s farm fields are “very wet,” too, according to Palle Pedersen, ISU
Extension soybean agronomist.
“It is going to be three to five days before we will be able to get back into the
field,” he said last week. “Soils are very saturated and compaction is going to be
a huge problem/ I haven’t been in the field since last Friday (10-13), so it is going
to be 10 days before I get back in.”
Pedersen said that crops in his area are “okay,” considering the conditions, and
that low areas are under water. He estimated he was a week’s worth of harvest
left, and most farmers in his area have a lot of corn left to bring in.
“I have both seen beans and corn that have started to sprout,” he said.
Sexton summed up the situation with a bit of wry humor at the curveball Mother
Nature has tossed into the harvest.
“Other than harvest delays, higher moisture content of harvested grain,
efficiency lost when the combine has to back out of wet spots, deep tracks where
the harvest machinery trudged through the soft spots, an occasional grain cart or
wagon getting stuck in the field, the compaction concerns of heavy loads on soft
soils and what yield impact that will have on next year’s crop, and the extra fuel
required to harvest and dry the crop, I don’t feel the wet weather has had much
of a negative impact for me,” he said.