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Iowa harvest reaches gun lap

By Staff | Oct 29, 2010

A total of 740,000 bushels of corn were piled outdoors temporarily at the Farmers Cooperative elevator near Ida Grove. An employee, David Lichtenberg said the elevator was expecting a train next week when the elevator would begin picking the corn up.

A month of tailor-made harvest weather has allowed Iowa’s row-crop producers to virtually beat the weather clock this season as harvest activities enter the final lap.

Statewide, 97 percent of the soybean crop is in storage as is 86 percent of the corn.

This has been the fastest corn harvest since 2000 and the fastest for soybeans since 2005.

As of Monday, the National Agriculture Statistics Service said that north central Iowa leads the state with 99 percent finished with soybeans and 95 percent complete in corn harvested.

Southwest Iowa continues to trail the state in corn harvesting although well ahead of last year’s weather-challenge pace with 61 percent. South central Iowa still has an estimated seven percent of its soybeans in the fields.

As of Monday, Iowa’s overall progress included:

  • Corn: Northwest 90 percent; north central 95 percent; northeast 87 percent; west central 84 percent; central 93 percent; east central 90 percent; southwest 61 percent; south central 63 percent; southeast 86 percent; state average 86 percent; last week 66 percent; last year 12 percent; five-year average 39 percent.
  • Soybeans: Northwest 99 percent; north central 99 percent; northeast 96 percent; west central 99 percent; central 98 percent; east central 96 percent; southwest 96 percent; south central 93 percent; southeast 94 percent; state average 97 percent; last week 94 percent; last year 46 percent; five-year average 80 percent.

Compared to last year, grain drying has been almost non-existent as elevators reported ideal moisture content in corn coming in from the field and straight into storage.

In Ida Grove, for instance, Farmer’s Co-op reported that soybeans rolled into the elevator with 7 to 11 percent moisture and corn was at 10 to 15 percent.

For more information about Iowa’s crop progress, as well as topsoil mositure, ear droppage and pasture and range reports, see page 2B.

Contact Larry Kershner at (515) 573-2141, Ext. 453 or at kersh@farm-news.com.