Late May Frost Forced Some Iowa Farmers to Replant Certain Crops

You know the old adage: don't plant your garden until Mother's Day Weekend. Well, one could make a similar argument in farming, however, we were well past Mother's Day Weekend when we got a late widespread May frost that impacted the crops of many Iowa farmers. Now, the late May frost seems like eons ago as it's been in the 90s this week, but we're now seeing that it did wreak havoc on many Iowa farmer's crops.

Due to the frost, many Iowa farmers had to plant... again

The cold snap forced a large number of Iowa farmers to replant crops like soybeans and corn, according to a Radio Iowa story. The latest USDA report shows some Iowa farmers had to re-plant both corn and soybeans due to frost damage that occurred near the end of May.

Furthermore, in an Ag Web interview, a USDA meteorologist claimed northern Iowa saw the third latest freeze in the state's history and the worst in recent history with the only other two occurring in 1897 and 1947.

Iowa farmers continue to plant soybeans

The Radio Iowa report says a quarter of the state's soybeans are yet to be planted, while eighty-six percent of the soybeans have already emerged. The USDA report says 96% of planted corn has emerged, which is actually nine days ahead of the five-year average. Given the recent weather, I don't think farmers have to worry about the cold for a long time. There's no high temperature in eastern or northeastern cooler than 81 degrees in the 10-day weather outlook.