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Potential for big crops in Iowa

Iowa secretary of agriculture Bill Northey tells Brownfield that, with just a few exceptions, Iowa’s corn and soybean crops are looking very good.

“I talk to producers and they get kind of quiet—they don’t want to jinx anything—but they’ll say, ‘you know, I’ve got one of my best-looking crops ever coming’,” Northey says.

While the crops still have a ways to go, Northey says it’s hard not to be optimistic.

“We’ll need some moisture later on to be able to fill this crop on out, but we’ve got some moisture in the soil profile to help take us through,” he says. “And we’ve had decent temperatures here as we’re pollinating in lots of the state—so there’s a lot of optimism.”

Iowa’s weather has settled down after frequent, heavy storms and near-record precipitation in the month of June.  The statewide average rainfall in June was nearly 10 inches.

AUDIO: Bill Northey (3:00 MP3)