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Eastern Iowa farmer says rains keep missing

The latest USDA crop report says most of Iowa received much needed rain last week.

But eastern Iowa farmer Greg Alber tells Brownfield his area keeps missing out on substantial moisture.

“It’s just been dissipating as the rains move east. You get three-fourths across the state, think you’re going to get it and it just disappears. We’ve kind of got a shelf here.”

He says crops in Buchanan County where he farms look surprisingly good despite receiving less than 7 inches of rain since planting.

“We did have a full tank (of soil moisture) when we started this spring, we’ve got good black soils here (so) it’s hanging on. But if we don’t get any (rain) shortly, it’s going to start dinging our yield potential.”

Alber, who serves on the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, says another rain to finish out the corn and help set soybean pods would go a long way toward achieving good yields.