The condition of corn in Iowa has improved to 64% good to excellent in the last week. Field agronomist Rebecca Vittetoe says this planting season is one for the record books and the old adage knee-high by the Fourth of July comes to mind, “We have a variety of sizes in our crops. So, you know, we’ve heard of that saying ‘knee-high by the Fourth of July’ with the corn, some of our corn has definitely surpassed knee-high by the Fourth of July. Some of that earlier planted corn, in April, is head-high now. And some of the later planted corn in June, some of that we’ll be lucky if it does get to be knee-high by the Fourth of July. So we do have a variety in sizes.”

Iowa’s soybean crop is also working to catch up. According to the USDA, the state’s total soybean crop is over two weeks behind the five year average with 90% emerging and only 1% has started to bloom. In southeast Iowa, 80% of soybeans have emerged so far.