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Corn, Soybean Harvest Lagging in SW Iowa

Michael Leland/IPR file photo

Corn and soybean crops in southwest Iowa are lagging behind the rest of the state because of too much rain falling too often throughout the growing season. But, Iowa State University agronomist Aaron Sauegling says yields are better than expected.  He has been monitoring fourteen counties in extreme southwest Iowa.

“We still have some soybeans in the field,” he says.  “And when you get to this time of year where we have cool evenings, where we have a little frost, it makes for a long day to harvest soybeans. Usually we don’t get started until after dinner and they get tough in the evening, so we have short days for beans. We’ve seen a lot of dry soybeans in this part of the state this year. There’s a lot of eight, nine, ten percent soybeans, so it’s picked up a little bit after the rain, so that’s good.”

Sauegling estimates about 50-percent of southwest Iowa’s corn crop is yet to be harvested.