Recent warm weather has been a great boon to the agricultural world in Guthrie County.

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Field Agronomist Mike Witt says that fields in Guthrie County have started to hit the emergence period, that’s when crops that were planted early are starting to break through the ground and sprout. He notes that there are still some farmers finishing planting, but they should be finished soon, adding that currently approximately 75% of corn fields and 60% of soybean fields are planted.

Witt comments on how the weather has been helpful.

“The weather has actually been very good for farmers recently. It warmed up like we wanted, we were able to get things planted, now we’re getting some rainstorms. So these rainstorms are going to come in and they’re going to give us moisture, which we need. A lot of the subsurface moisture might be where we’re lacking, but right now we’re working on the topsoil moisture. So anything we can add there will help boost these plants to grow at a faster rate.”

Witt mentions that with the recent good weather, farmers were able to spend about 5.7 days in the field last week. He adds farmers are further ahead in the planting cycle than last year and right on track with the five year average.