Julia Poska | October 19, 2018

Last week, Iowa saw up to four inches of rain rain, below-average temperatures, and 10 confirmed tornadoes. The unfavorable weather has made this year’s the slowest Iowa soybean harvest on record.

As of Oct. 14, Iowa farmers had only harvested 14 percent of soybean acres in the state. , according to last week’s Iowa Crop Progress & Condition Report, put out by the National Agriculture Statistics Service. The report said that between the cold, rain and even snow, only 0.8 days during the week were suitable for fieldwork.

At this time last year, about 30 percent of Iowa soybeans were off the field. In 2016, that number was closer to 50 percent.  The 2018 Iowa Climate Statement, released last week, warns that extreme rainfall events will only get worse in Iowa as time goes on. Future years may see even later delays for harvests.

Despite the slow harvest, the bean plants themselves are a bit ahead of schedule. The report said 97 percent of the soybean crop was dropping leaves as of the 14th, five days ahead of average. Wallace’s Farmer reported that in some fields, moisture has prompted beans to start sprouting out of their pods.

Ideally, the beans only contain 13 percent moisture at harvest, but these wet conditions could cause the beans to absorb and store more water from the air, according to South Dakota’s Capital Journal. This could spell bad news for farmers, as many buyers only take dry soybeans. Farmers will have to wait longer to harvest or store their beans long-term.

Dryer conditions this week should have provided some opportunity for farmers to catch up. Meanwhile, states in the eastern Corn Belt are reporting faster-than-average harvest, according to Wallace’s Farmer.