Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Dry week allows farmers in fields
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
DES MOINES — Little or no precipitation and warm temperatures allowed Iowa farmers 6.6 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending May 18, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Corn and soybean planting made rapid progress. There were scattered reports of replanting as early planted crops in some areas had struggled to emerge with the dry conditions.
Topsoil moisture condition rated 8% very short, 37% short, 53% adequate and 2% surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 6% very short, 34% short, 58% adequate and 2% surplus.
Corn planted reached 91% complete, 12 days ahead of last year and four days ahead of the five-year average.
Fifty-eight percent of corn had emerged, five days ahead of last year’s pace and three days ahead of normal.
Eighty-four percent of the expected soybean crop has been planted just over two weeks ahead of last year and one week ahead the five-year average.
Soybeans emerged reached 42%, eight days ahead of last year and six days ahead of normal. E
Eighty-six percent of the State’s oat crop has emerged. Oats headed reached 15%. Oat condition rated 0% very poor, 1% poor, 13% fair, 71% good and 15% excellent.
Twenty-three percent of the State’s first cutting of alfalfa hay has been completed. Hay condition rated 78% good to excellent.
Weather summary provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship:
Much of southern and Eastern Iowa reported rain-free conditions with departures approaching 1.20 — 1.40 inches below normal through May 18.
Only stations in northwest Iowa received more than a few tenths of an inch. Unseasonably warm temperatures also persisted with a statewide average temperature of 65.0 degrees, 4.1 degrees above normal.
Weekly rain totals ranged from no accumulation south and east to 1.06 inches in Sibley. The statewide weekly average rainfall was 0.05 inch; the normal is 1.01 inch.
Davenport Municipal Airport in Scott County reported the week’s high temperature of 94 degrees May 15, 22 degrees above normal. Mason City, in Cerro Gordo County, reported the week’s low temperature of 32 degrees May 18, 16 degrees below normal.
Soil temperatures were in the upper 50s to low 60s statewide as of Sunday.
