As late planting has rolled into a late harvest for Iowa producers, one delay has been wet crops and the struggle to dry them.

ISU Extension and Outreach Field Agronomist Mike Witt says propane shortages have been affecting farmers across the state this fall, due to a demand to mechanically dry grain. Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation temporarily suspending certain regulatory provisions regarding hours of service for the delivery of propane, which expires at the end of this month.

Despite this relaxing to allow delivery drivers to operate after spending several hours in line waiting for propane, Witt says some Guthrie County farmers have let their corn crop wait in the field for weeks as an alternative, “Number one, they are harvesting smaller amounts rather than taking whole fields and filling bins really full. Thereby requiring a lot of propane and more time to dry they are taking it out in smaller sections and drying smaller loads because they can do that faster and more efficiently with less gas, less propane being used.”

Witt says most Guthrie County farmers hope to be finished with harvest by December 1st. To hear more about the harvest from Witt, listen to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program on air and at raccoonvalleyradio.com.