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Persistent rains keep combines parked in eastern Iowa

An eastern Iowa farmer says he’s not expecting to get started on corn harvest anytime soon.

Lance Lillibridge raises a corn-on-corn rotation near Vinton in Benton County.

“We’re still watching rain drops fall,” he said. “We had another half inch yesterday and it’s pretty soggy out here. It’s not good for the crops, it’s not good for the emotional part of agriculture.”

He tells Brownfield patience will be key.

“One thing I don’t like to do as a farmer is I do not like to carry the field out onto the road and make a mess of roads,” Lillibridge said. “I try to just hold back. It’s not the first of October yet. We’ve still got some time and possibilities to get it done.”

But he says prolonged wet conditions raise the likelihood of crop quality issues and field losses.

“Seeing reports of corn starting to germinate at the bottom of the husk,” Lillibridge said. “The ear is still standing up and that husk is catching water and trapping it there. The corn is mature, and with that moisture and some 70 degree days, it’s actually germinating it.”

Lillibridge says he’s also seen reports of soybeans starting to germinate in the pod.

Lance Lillibridge: