Degree Day Information for Iowa

Dog days arrive

It's August, the corn and beans are filling, and we have reasonable soil moisture in most of Iowa. Not all bad. One small concern is that accumulated heat for the growing season across Iowa has fallen behind last year's accumulations, largely due to a cool July. Although the southern two-thirds of the state are just a little lagging, west central, northwest, and north central areas have received less heat--about 8 to 10 August days' worth. That means that with normal August and September temperatures and, of course, rain we should be fine.

It's too soon to tell, but concerns of early frost could begin to grow, especially with late-planted crops if heat accumulation doesn't pick up. But let's get through the warmth of August first.