Corn and soybean harvests continue (Iowa)
Iowa farmers had a rather cold 4.8 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending Nov. 18, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, Upper Midwest Regional Field Office, Iowa. Activities for the week included harvesting corn and soybeans, baling stalks, applying anhydrous and manure, moving grain, repairing tile and fall tillage in areas where the ground was not too frozen.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 1 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 18 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 2 percent short, 78 percent adequate and 20 percent surplus.
Ninety-one percent of the state’s corn for grain crop has been harvested, 4 days behind the five-year average. Farmers in northwest and north central Iowa have harvested 96 percent of their corn for grain while farmers in the southwest have 22 percent of their corn for grain remaining to be harvested. Moisture content of field corn being harvested averaged 16 percent. Soybean harvest was 97 percent complete, 5 days behind last year and 4 days behind the average.