Shepherd spoke to Brownfield at Becknology Days in Colfax, Iowa on Tuesday:
An agronomist with Beck’s says crops across southeast Iowa have performed exceptionally well this growing season.
Greg Shepherd tells Brownfield, “Some of the heat was really causing the corn to be rapidly growing, especially through the late vegetative stages and the early reproductive phases. But still have a very solid corn crop and I think the bean crop is improving every week here.”
He says timely rains have helped ease drought concerns across much of his territory.
“Those rains were a big deal,” he said. “A crop can deal with either heat or drought stress. I think for most of the season we’ve had some heat stress but we’ve avoided drought stress.”
The latest US Drought Monitor shows nearly all of eastern Iowa has been removed from drought-related designations.
