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Excessive rain continues to hamper crops in northern Iowa

Excessive rainfall continues to hamper crops in parts of  northern Iowa.

Cold and wet conditions delayed the planting of crops this spring, and heavy rains in late June have caused more problems.

“A lot of people had 8 to 12 inches for the month of June, and it all came here in the last two-and-a-half weeks. So there’s a lot of ponding and a lot of drown-outs,” says Paul Kassel, Iowa State University Extension agronomist in northwest Iowa. “The worst case is that there’s areas that didn’t drown out, but they’re just sitting there waterlogged with corn that’s just two feet tall and beans that are really struggling because of the waterlogged conditions.”

Kassel says yield potential is being impacted.

“It think we probably have 25 percent of the acres in a lot of our counties that are severely impacted, maybe half a crop,” he says. “It’s probably too early to know, but it’s going to have some impact.”

Kassel says muddy fields have also hindered nitrogen applications and timely weed control.

AUDIO: Paul Kassel