Southeast Iowa corn crop wilts under summer's sun

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

?There?s a lot of crispy critters out there,? observed Virgil Schmitt, Iowa State University Extension area crop specialist.

Schmitt was not referring to the four-legged variety or the cereal you put into the bowl but the area?s corn crop.

The specialist, who is based in Muscatine and serves most of east-central and southeast Iowa, said crops have fared the worst in southeast Iowa, particularly south of Iowa Highway 78.

?Southeast Iowa is by far the worst, it is amazing how much things drop off between Highways 92 and 78,? he noted. ?The crops are phenomenal in Delaware and Dubuque counties but the farther south you go, the worse they become. It (southeast Iowa corn) is way too brown and advanced this year. It pretty much has caved in. There is a lot of corn acres suffering.?

Schmitt said that over abundant moisture in the spring also shares in the blame. ?We had more than ample rainfall in the spring so there are a lot of (corn) plants with shallow roots. That means the roots are so close to the surface that it limits the area they can draw moisture from.?

Rainfall in July can either make or break a corn crop, especially during pollination. ?Once the silks start to emerge, vegetation and root growth stops. The vast majority of root growth ended in mid-July. When you have shallow roots and limited rainfall, you have a lot of issues.?

Schmitt pointed to the third week of July as being extremely critical because that was when the corn was tasseling. It was also the week that the area experienced its hottest temperatures of the year. Official highs during the period from July 18-23 in Mt. Pleasant were 93, 95, 99, 97, 95 and 94.

While saying that there has been significant corn crop yield loss in southeast Iowa, Schmitt said he could not offer a blanket guesstimate on the amount of loss. ?Yields vary so much from one field to another, that it can be a real wildcard,? he explained.

While southeast Iowa crops have suffered from the drought, other elements of Mother Nature have wreaked havoc in other areas of the state.

?Dry weather and destructive storms are continuing to affect crop development and cause concern for farmers as harvest is quickly approaching,? Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey said in his weekly crop report. ?Rain would help the corn crop and be beneficial for beans, both of which are showing stress from the dry weather in many parts of the state.

High winds and hail affected crops in northwest, north-central, west-central and southwest Iowa last week, Northey said.

While the corn crop has nearly matured, soybeans, on the other hand, are entering the critical stage, according to Schmitt.

?Thus far, the (yield) loss has been less dramatic,? the crop specialist assessed. ?As the soils dry out, soybean roots have followed the moisture down. There is a lot of talk about the soybean crop being made in August so any rain the rest of the month could make a world of difference.?

Schmitt?s remarks came before Mt. Pleasant received its first significant rainfall (one inch on Tuesday, Aug. 30) in nearly two months. He said that if areas were able to pick up an inch or two of rain, it could make up to a 10-percent difference on corn and soybean yields. ?It would be great and more or less a million dollar rain for soybeans.?

As for the hay crop, Schmitt said two cuttings were about all in the offing this year with alfalfa hay faring better than grass because alfalfa hay is deeper rooted.

In conclusion, Schmitt said that while there may be some ?surprises? in this year?s harvest, he doesn?t foresee any record yields in southeast Iowa.

?I had a guy tell me the other day that we won?t have any 200 bushel corn this year, that we would be lucky to have 150 bushel corn and he was probably right.?