Wet Weather Leads to Uncertain Harvest

A south-central Iowa farmer states his harvest timeline is up in the air. “Field conditions are terrible.”

Steve Kuiper of Knoxville says constant moisture the last couple weeks has led to a difficult situation. “I don’t think we’ll go to the field before the first of October because it’s so wet. It’s just going to take some days to get it dried. It just doesn’t let up. When it’s not raining, it’s still kind of drizzly and foggy. That’s what makes it worse than anything.”

He says a prolonged harvest delay could raise concerns about soybean quality and yield. “They start to mold in the pod and so you’re pretty quickly losing bushels because of the soybeans growing or you’ll get some dockage because of black soybeans.”

Every farmer is keeping their eye on the weather and the ground conditions. Once both look suitable, it’s go time.