(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Farmers plant 41% of Iowa corn crop in one week [1]
['Jared Strong', 'More From Author', '- May']
Date: 2023-05
Generous weather conditions for field work last week allowed Iowa farmers to make substantial planting progress — they seeded about 41% of the state’s corn crop and about 33% of soybeans in that week.
That’s according to the latest progress report on Monday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which estimates that 70% of the total corn crop was planted as of Sunday, along with about 49% of soybeans.
The planting progress for both crops is about a week ahead of average for the past five years.
“Over the last week, farmers made significant planting progress before late-week thunderstorms brought much needed moisture along with unwanted hail and high winds,” said Mike Naig, the state’s agriculture secretary.
Despite the widespread rains, available topsoil moisture diminished, the USDA reported. About 67% of the state’s topsoil has adequate or surplus moisture compared with about 71% a week ago.
Measured rainfall last week ranged from none in far southern Iowa to 1.76 inches in Dallas County, said Justin Glisan, the state climatologist. The statewide average for last week was about a half inch of rain, or about 56% of what is normally expected.
Three-quarters of Iowa is abnormally dry, and nearly a third is suffering from some degree of drought, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor report last week.
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