It’s been a historic year for rain in Iowa, and while rain is normally a good thing, too much of it can cause crop issues. Outside of physical damage, disease, and soil issues, excessive rains can cause nitrogen runoff, which may have led to the lower yields Iowa farmers have observed so far. Landus Cooperative Technical Agronomist Dan Bjorklund said he believes nitrogen runoff has been a major factor for this year’s crop.
Bjorklund said some hybrids even prefer to have additional nitrogen later in the season.
There’s also still plenty of standing water in fields across Iowa, and Bjorklund said trying to take machinery through them before they dry out can do more harm than good.
Bjorklund said the flat ground of many Iowa fields may require farmers to be more patient than they would like to be with harvest at this point.
For more information, visit landus.ag.
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