High rainfall relieves drought, but farmer worries remain

WASHINGTON — By the start of July in 2023, every farmer in Southeast Iowa was wringing their hands over an ongoing drought. Over two thirds of the state’s fields were short or very short on moisture, and producers noted slow growth of their crops and low effectiveness of their pesticides, both of which require water. Hay prices skyrocketed and pasture conditions sank, with low precipitation numbers lingering into the winter.

2024 has offered a sharp contrast. As the northwest end of the state endures severe flooding, Iowa was free of drought conditions on June 7 for the first time in four years, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

An Iowa Environmental Mesonet data station in Crawfordsville, for instance, shows more precipitation logged since June 1 than in all of last summer combined. While the totals only add up to a few inches more than average, they reflect a radical increase from the year prior.

“It probably feels like that, especially compared to how dry we were,” Washington County ISU Extension Field Agronomist Rebecca Vittetoe said. “We’re definitely above normal this year, but not insanely above normal for rainfall.”

In Southeast Iowa, the rain has helped reverse some problems associated with last year’s drought. A USDA Crop Progress and Condition Report released on July 8 said over 80% of the region’s farms had adequate or higher subsoil moisture, and rated statewide pasture conditions at 73% good or excellent. That’s a far cry from the same time last year, when Southeast Iowa showed two thirds of fields “short” or “very short” on subsoil moisture, and less than a quarter of pastures held favorable conditions.

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Much of state’s bottom right corner, however, remains “abnormally dry” according to the Iowa Drought Monitor. The latest map released by the National Drought Mitigation Center on July 3 shows sizable chunks of Washington, Jefferson and Henry counties in the dry area, which covers all of Lee, Van Buren, Davis and Wapello counties, among others.

And while the water is welcomed by drought-addled farmers, they say the above-average precipitation has introduced problems of its own.

Moisture in the spring complicated corn and soybean planting windows, leaving few days suitable for fieldwork. The weather stripped many fields of nitrogen as well, washing away newly applied manure and fertilizer as the water flowed downhill.

On Brian Hora’s farm, the issue has visible repercussions for soybeans that briefly shared the soil with cover crops, which have since been killed off. He said the plants were starting to turn yellow as they struggled to pull from the dirt’s scarce remaining nitrogen.

“In the last few days, the nitrogen shortage in soybeans, it’s really showing up,” he said. “Even fields that are fairly well-drained have large yellow spots in them. It’s excessively wet, and those plants are trying to get nitrogen, but they just can’t get enough … they’re definitely showing signs of stress.”

Rainfall has also delayed hay cuttings, according to Ainsworth area farmer Dave Skubal.

While green pastures for his cattle this year have created little immediate pressure to produce hay, he said the damp conditions had him waiting to play catch-up on the product that will feed his animals through winter.

“You can’t get the hay to cure, you’ve got to get it completely dry to bale it,” Skubal said. “You need dry ground and low humidity, and we haven’t had that for about two or three weeks now, so we’ve got a lot of hay to make.”

With spring in the rearview, Vittetoe said the new issue on every producer’s radar was disease. Gray leaf spots and tar spots, for instance, both threaten corn operations, and get increasingly prevalent with humid conditions.

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Still, Vittetoe hasn’t heard any reports of the spots in Washington County yet this year. If she does, she said fungicide applications would make the problem reasonably easy to fix.

“We’re just encouraging folks to keep an eye out for it, scout their fields,” she said. “I don’t want them to spray their fields soon, but I also don’t want us to wait and not spray, either … but when we’re wetter, we tend to see a little bit more disease pressure out in our fields.”

It’s worth noting that the rain could stop at any point, a change that could make things tricky for plants which — thus far — haven’t needed to stretch their roots more than a few feet deep. Too much more water, however, and the disease risk may skyrocket, as could other problems for soybeans, which rely on at least a few dry spells during their growing seasons.

With so many factors at play, growers said it was far too soon to tell what kind of harvest the fall might bring. But so far things seem to be shaping up nicely.

“We’re set up for good yields, if Mother Nature cooperates the rest of the way,” said farmer Jim Cuddeback. “We’re a long ways from harvest, let’s put it that way. A lot of things can happen.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com