As harvest nears, area farmers hoping for delayed frost

Weather in Northeast Iowa has been less than ideal during the 2019 growing season. It began with a cold and wet spring, which delayed planting of both corn and soybeans two or more weeks behind schedule.

With the shorter growing season, farmers in the four-county area and throughout the Midwest are hoping for a delayed frost, which appears likely according to Iowa State University Extension Agronomist Brian Lang.

Lang noted last week in his weekly crop notes that it appears there will not be a killing frost until near the end of the month.

“… Looking at highly unreliable long-term forecasting, it looks like we won’t have a killing frost until roughly Oct. 27,” he wrote.  “The nightly lows between now and Oct. 27 will be mostly in the low 40’s and sometimes in the high 30’s. Right now, the so-called alfalfa killing frost is not likely until mid-November.”

Lang said a killing frost comes when temperatures drop to 26 degrees. He said the mild temperatures should keep soil temperatures above 50 degrees for quite awhile.

For more of this story see the Oct. 9 Outlook.