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Eight percent of Iowa corn is planted

Drier and warmer weather over the weekend finally allowed Iowa farmers to make some progress on corn planting.

As of Sunday, planting statewide stood at eight percent compared to the five-year average of 14 percent.

Kelly Nieuwenhuis, who farms near Primghar in northwest Iowa, says they were able to plant about 15 percent of their crop on Saturday and Sunday.

“We got our full-season corn put in the ground. For us that’s 109-day corn,” Nieuwenhuis says. “We’re not planting corn today because of the forecast for 45 degrees and rain tomorrow.”

Nieuwenhuis says the first 24 hours are the most critical for the moisture that the seed absorbs.

“We don’t want to put that corn into that cold shock,” he says. “So since we got our full-season corn planted, we’re going to be patient and wait until conditions get a little better.”

State climatologist Harry Hillaker says soil temperatures as of Sunday were averaging near 50 degrees over extreme northwest Iowa to the mid to upper 50’s elsewhere in the state.

AUDIO:  Kelly Nieuwenhuis