(Remsen) — Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey made a stop in both Marcus and Remsen on Monday. Northey, a farmer from Spirit Lake, says this summer’s drought has similarities to the 1988 drought. He says several regions of the state are suffering, particularly east-central Iowa.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/July 2012/Northey2.mp3{/audio}
However, he also says their are some pockets within the state that have not been adversely affected by the dry conditions.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/July 2012/Northey3.mp3{/audio}
Northey says most of the government sponsored disaster programs are coordinated at the federal level, but he says the state department of agriculture are standing by to help.
Listen here
{audio}images/stories/mp3/July 2012/Northey1.mp3{/audio}
The state secretary of agriculture toured both the Little Sioux Corn Processors in Marcus and he visited the Remsen Processing in Remsen. Iowa’s corn crop has deteriorated further with 40 percent now in very poor or poor condition. A week ago it was 27 percent.
The USDA says it has received reports of farmers chopping down their corn.
Just 23 percent of the crop is in good to excellent condition down from 36 percent a week earlier.
For Iowa soybeans 30 percent are now in very poor or poor condition. It was 20 percent a week ago. Just 28 percent of the crop is in good or excellent condition down from 38 percent a week ago.
Nationally, 45 percent of the corn crop is very poor or poor. Last week it was 38 percent.
For soybeans, 35 percent is now poor or very poor compared with the 30 percent a week earlier.
