Rain and snow early in the week along with cooler temperatures limited Iowa farmers to 5.3 days suitable for fieldwork during the week ending November 1, 2020, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Fieldwork activities reported included harvesting corn and soybeans, baling corn stalks, applying fertilizer and manure, moving grain to town and tillage. Topsoil moisture condition rated 13% very short, 28% short, 58% adequate and 1% surplus. Subsoil moisture condition rated 19% very short, 34% short, 46% adequate and 1% surplus.
Only 13% of Iowa’s corn for grain crop remains to be harvested, over 3 weeks ahead of last year and 13 days ahead of the 5-year average. Statewide, the moisture content of field corn being harvested for grain fell 1 percentage point to 15%. Farmers in northwest, north central and west central Iowa have less than 10% of their corn for grain remaining to be harvested while farmers in south central Iowa still have over 30% to be harvested.
Only 3% of Iowa’s soybean crop remains to be harvested, just over 3 weeks ahead of last year and 2 weeks ahead of average. Farmers in northwest, north central and west central Iowa have few fields left to harvest with 1% or less of their soybeans remaining. In contrast, farmers in the southern one-third of the state have 9-10% of their soybeans left to be harvested.
Livestock producers continue to allow cattle to graze on corn stalks.