SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
The summer heat continues to put stress on Siouxland's crops and its producers. In the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture crop report, the outlook in all three states is anything but good.
In Nebraska, about 43 percent of the state's corn crop is in good shape. That's well below the 79 percent average for this time of year. Soybean crop rates are even worse at 34 percent good or excellent. Normally, about 77 percent of the crop is in good or excellent shape. The wheat harvest is now about three weeks ahead of normal and 97 percent done.
It's a similar story to the east. The USDA says only 36 percent of the corn and 38 percent of the soybeans are in good to excellent shape in the widest drought in nearly 25 years. A year ago, about 80 percent of Iowa's corn and soybeans were in good to excellent condition.
The USDA says most of Iowa's topsoil and subsoil moisture levels are running short or very short, despite widespread rain last week.
USDA officials say topsoil moisture in the Rushmore state is rated 38 percent short and 51 percent very short. Subsoil moisture is 46 percent short and 39 percent short.
Still, crop development is ahead of the five-year average. Sixty percent of corn had tasseled, with 36 percent in the silked and 3 percent in the dough stage. That's compared with a five-year average of 18 percent in the tasseled and 6 percent in the silked stage.
Soybeans were at 74 percent blooming.
