BLOODY GREEN CORN: I attended a meeting last Thursday in Humboldt County in north-central Iowa. Driving from Des Moines up U.S. Highway 169, I encountered lots of what one soil scientists described as “bloody green” corn. Just doing a windshield survey, cornfields like this one looked in good shape. It coincided with what Meaghan Anderson, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist, has noticed in central Iowa. “Corn is rapidly reaching late vegetative stages, and I even received an image of a field with some plants starting to shoot tassels [around June 25],” she says.

PATCHY FIELDS: The worm started turning, though, when I turned west south of Humboldt, Iowa. Some patchy-looking fields started surfacing, where bare spots were mixed in with cropland.

EDGE-OF-FIELD FLOODING: A couple of miles further west was when water really started surfacing in low areas of the field, such as this. Further north, though, in the town of Humboldt, Iowa, matters worsened. Water poured over roads as the Des Moines River continued to rise.

FLOODING ALL OVER: Further west in northwestern Iowa, though, is where the massive damage to crops has occurred. In this area, rainfall ranging from 2 to 9 inches has caused low-lying areas that were previously replanted to have standing water larger than the original replanted areas, says Gentry Sorenson, Iowa State University Extension field agronomist.

REVIEW REPLANTS: Replanting soybeans is still an option, for it’s still considered “practical” to replant soybeans until July 10, ISU Extension field agronomists say. Planting a cover crop is also an option on unplanted acres. However, contact your crop insurance agent first so you know coverage and limitations. ISU has put together this blog to help guide affected farmers through all this.

SULFUR DEFICIENCIES. Outside of flood areas, crop development keeps chugging along. As in every year, though, problems surface. Anderson reports that sulfur deficiencies are appearing in some fields in central Iowa, exhibited by the interveinal chlorosis in this corn at the V9 stage.

PALMER’S FLOWERING: For every bit of good news — such as corn tasseling early — there’s always bad news to drag things down. Anderson found this Palmer amaranth plant that’s blooming in the central Iowa county of Boone.