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Corn yields will be extremely variable from field to field and even within some fields because of the rains, depending upon drainage, Fawcett said. Recent sunny and cool weather have helped the corn to catch up. It's is not the heat that helps corn mature, he noted, but sunlight - and corn does best when the temperatures do not rise about 86 degrees.
The crops specialist said soybeans in general are looking good, though brown spot, a fungus, has been detected in some fields. Fungi may also cause a problem for corn. Grey leaf spot is showing up in southwestern and northern Iowa corn fields. Fawcett said farmers may have to apply fungicides if the plant diseases continue to spread.
Hail was also reported in isolated spots east of Keota, he said, which came at the worst time of the growing season for crops.
Fawcett said oat yields won't be very good this year, nor wheat/rye crosses. The heat-spell in mid-June came at the wrong time for small-grain crops, which need cool weather for flowering.
Area hay fields are looking good, but the rains are hindering the cut crop from trying in the fields before baling.
According to the Iowa Farm Bureau, corn yields in the state are positioned to match state records, if not break them. Dave Miller, Iowa Farm Bureau director of research, pointed to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that show the Iowa corn harvest could yield between 175 to 185 bushels per acre. The record is 180 bushels per acre and last year Iowa farmers averaged 165 bushels per acre.
