Iowa farmers had 4.4 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending November 25, 2018, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. Activities for the week included harvesting corn and soybeans, baling stalks, applying manure, and moving grain. Early in the week farmers were doing fall tillage, tile repair, and anhydrous application, but those activities halted as declining temperatures, rain and snow arrived.
Topsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 1 percent short, 81 percent adequate and 18 percent surplus. Subsoil moisture levels rated 0 percent very short, 2 percent short, 79 percent adequate and 19 percent surplus.
Ninety-six percent of the State’s corn for grain crop has been harvested, 4 days behind the five-year average. Farmers in northwest, north central, and central Iowa have harvested 98 percent of their corn for grain while farmers in the southwest have 13 percent of their corn for grain remaining to be harvested. Moisture content of field corn being harvested averaged 16 percent. Soybean harvest was 98 percent complete, 9 days behind last year and 12 days behind the average.
Feedlots and pastures were messy with warming temperatures followed by rain and snow late in the week. Livestock conditions varied by area with some reports of no issues while others had trouble getting water, feed, and bedding to livestock.