Corn and soybean harvests are almost finished in Iowa

by Jared Strong

Iowa’s soybean harvest is “nearly complete,” and about 94% of the state’s corn crop has been gathered from fields, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

That is nearly 10 days ahead of the five-year average for both crops, which matured more quickly this growing season because of drought and hot temperatures.

Last week was more of the same: The state averaged about 7° F above normal and had almost no rain.

“The unseasonably warm and dry weather this past week offered Iowa farmers another suitable stretch to finish up harvest and tackle other farm work,” said Mike Naig, the state’s agriculture secretary.

If the corn harvest continues at last week’s pace, it will also be nearly complete by this week’s end.

Even though the percentage of unharvested corn is relatively small at 6%, that figure still represents a massive area because of the millions of acres that are planted each year in Iowa. About 750,000 acres were yet to be harvested at the start of this week.