The seasonal outlook is expecting warmer and drier conditions which may be helpful for some farmers with dry down and harvest activities. 

Guthrie County ISU Extension & Outreach’s Field Agronomist Mike Witt says the fall conditions that are expected will cause a potential for an earlier harvest. Witt tells Raccoon Valley Radio he has seen farmers already chopping silage and baling hay in preparation for the harvest season. 

“ If you drive around the area, some of the corn is still green all the way to the bottom. But when you get into the middle of fields, there are a lot of other fields. We have half-hired corn from the bottom up, so some of those will be maturing at a quicker pace if we have that dry conditions.”

Witt explains that soybeans are maturing at a regular pace at this time of year and also corn has reached the half to quarter milk line of maturity. According to the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report, last week there were 5.5 suitable fieldwork days.