Nearly all of the state’s corn crop has emerged from the ground, including this early planted field in western Iowa. (Photo by Jared Strong/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Corn and soybean planting in Iowa is “virtually complete,” but some farmers were forced to consider replanting fields damaged by severe weather in parts of the state during the past week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Monday.
Hail that was three inches in diameter was reported in Greene County and one-inch hail fell on part of Polk County, State Climatologist Justin Glisan wrote in his weekly weather summary. Hail and significant straight-line winds were reported in southwest Iowa, Glisan reported.
“Pockets of heavy rain and isolated severe hail have led farmers in some areas of the state to replant damaged crops,” Mike Naig, the state’s secretary of agriculture, said in a press release. “A heat wave this week will dry out wet fields and may exacerbate pockets of dryness where short-term precipitation deficits have accumulated.”
A large swath of northwest Iowa is abnormally dry or in a moderate or severe drought. The driest area is near Sioux City, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
About 95% of the state’s corn crop has emerged, which is one day ahead of the five-year average, the USDA report said. About 84% of the state’s soybeans have emerged, two days ahead of the average.
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