The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship recently released crop report numbers for the state.

Iowa State University Field Agronomist Mike Witt mentions that a dry pattern for the region has been both helpful, and somewhat harmful. The dry conditions and warm weather allowed for six-point-six days that were suitable for field work in the week leading up to May 28th. He adds that there are still a few farmers planting, but that those planting corn are almost completely finished, and that soybean fields are about 85-90-percent finished with planting.

Witt tells Raccoon Valley Radio that recent storms have helped with some of the dryness in the area.

“Guthrie County especially has seen some drier conditions. We’ve had some crusting that’s occurred on some of the ground, so having this rain to break some of that up has been really, really important, especially for the soybeans that are trying to get emerged out of the ground.”

Witt mentions that topsoil moisture conditions are rated as 10-percent very short, 40-percent short, 49-percent adequate and one percent surplus He adds that subsoil moisture content is rated as 10-percent very short, 36-percent short, 53-percent adequate and one percent surplus. Witt explains that while those numbers may seem good, with the longer hotter days of summer coming up, having a higher surplus rating in the subsoil would be better for those stretches of time of no to only light rains.