Rain has been hard to come by lately in Iowa, but is it a little too late for area farmers?

Jefferson’s West Central Coop Field Agronomist Scott Shannon says it is.  He believes that any rainfall now may help any late planted soybeans, but for the most part, corn is starting its drying process right now.

However, most area farmers haven’t started harvesting yet due to corn not being at an active level for drying to avoid paying drying fees at grain elevators.  The levels are around 20%, with 15-17% being the optimum level before harvest can begin.

Even with the harsh growing season, projections for corn yields are reportedly better than last year.

“Think we’ll be better than last year.  We had more moisture early on (and) from what I can see its going to be highly variable.  We kind of pegging it to be in the 140-150 (bushels of corn) range average around the Greene County area.”

Greene County Extension Coordinator Michael Cooley says last year was the ten-year low for the county at 125 bushels of corn per acre.

Soybean harvest is still on track for around the beginning of October.