On Wednesday, the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour got their look at Iowa. While the eastern leg will remain in the state on Thursday, the western leg covered the western three crop districts: one, four, and seven.
Photo Courtesy of Farm Journal Media
The western part of the state has been fighting drought conditions for much of the growing season. Then, they were the entry point for last week?s derecho storm. There was no altering the plans to how the tour was going to attack the state. The scouts were still going to check fields.
Western tour leader Jeff Wilson talks about what they saw in the western part of Iowa. District seven turned out to be in fairly good shape. However, plant populations were down. As they headed north the drought strain got worse and worse.
Western tour scout Jarod Creed said that while the drought was no secret, the extent of its area was a shock. The Iowa resident said he?s never seen such widespread dryness in western Iowa.
Photo Courtesy of Farm Journal Media
The final numbers for Iowa will not be out until Thursday night. In district one, the decline in corn yield was two percent from last year and soybeans were down seven and a half percent. District four lost ten percent yield on corn from the year prior, while soybeans declined one point six percent. And district seven had a loss of only eight-tenths of a percent on corn but soybeans lost four point seven percent from last year. Wilson says that the ?fat lady is warming up.? They need at least an inch of rain by the end of the month. That could help the beans, but the corn might be too far along.
The eastern leg of the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour completes its check of Iowa on Thursday. The western leg will go into southern Minnesota.
