A cool and wet spring slowed down the planting season for farmers this year and it has crops a little behind where they should be. 

According to the latest Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report corn has begun silking at two-percent which is three days behind last year and four days behind the five year average while thirteen-percent of soybeans are blooming which is nine days behind last year and four days behind the five year average.

Dallas County Extension Field Agronomist Meaghan Anderson says planting dates this year were later than last year which saw a warm May and June in 2021. 

“We started out probably the better part of a month behind, maybe even six or seven weeks behind in some fields that were getting planted around May 24th, 25th even into that last week in May and so that is really what has set us behind this year.”

Anderson tells Raccoon Valley Radio the warm temperatures are helping to get things back on track even though crops are still a little behind. Anderson explains what the ideal conditions are for crops right now including timely rainfall being not too much and not too little. 

“Right now the warm temperatures don’t bother me at all, in fact I’d like to push this crop a long a little bit faster. We have cooled down here a little bit and it looks like we are going to warm back up again next week into those sort of upper 80 temperatures.”

The Crop Progress and Condition Report shows corn and soybeans are both 77-percent good to excellent.