Rain stalls Iowa's harvest, but drier weather could get farmers back into fields by this weekend

In northwest Iowa, state Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said an incoming shot of rain Wednesday was likely to keep him and his father from the fields, another delay in an already slow harvest.

"We're moving grain, getting drying bins ready, so we can possibly go. But it looks like rain to the west," said Naig, who's helping his father, Terry Naig, on his family's farm near Cylinder.

Rain has slowed the harvest across the state in recent days. National Weather Service data for Des Moines showed that central Iowa on Wednesday matched the October rainfall record of 7.29 inches, set in 1941. Any more rain in the remaining eight days of the month would set a new record — a landmark in a year that already is one of the wettest in recorded Iowa history. 

Meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff said farmers might catch a break, though. Most of the precipitation is pushing out of central Iowa, and the outlook through Monday is expected to be drier.

Northern Iowa was expected to see scattered showers Wednesday, as could portions of southern Iowa this weekend, but much of Iowa "could have a nice stretch of drier conditions until Monday evening," Hagenhoff said.

That's good news for farmers, who are about two weeks behind in harvesting 22.3 million acres of corn and soybeans.

Farmers harvested 30% of Iowa's soybean crop last week, but they still have only about half of the crop in the bin. They're five days behind where they typically are at this time of year, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report shows.

Growers have harvested about 15% of the state's corn crop, 11 days behind average, the weekly report shows.

Iowa farmers could still be harvesting their crop by mid- to late November, said Mark Licht, an Iowa State University Extension cropping systems specialist.

"We haven't made the progress that we’d like to see," especially harvesting corn, said Licht, who's also an assistant professor at ISU. "We're about 50% behind where we should be."

Iowa's corn and soybean crops were planted late last spring, when record rain kept many farmers out of their fields. Iowa growers were unable to plant 463,339 acres this year because of wet fields, the most since USDA began reporting the data in 2007.

Licht said late-planted corn — its growth likely killed by a frost earlier this month — will contain more moisture and require more drying than normal. Added drying time means added costs for farmers who are already struggling with lower prices, most recently due to lower demand from ongoing trade issues.

Naig said Iowa farmers can make a lot of progress with a few days of good weather. "And we've got a lot of work to do," he said.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.