CHARLES CITY -- The weather is finally cooperating with Iowa farmers, and at the perfect time.

Monday's U.S. Department of Agriculture Crops and Weather Report said the crucial corn pollination period is well under way. Tassels started to emerge in force last week throughout Northeast Iowa, showering developing ears with pollen to promote development.

A late start to the growing season due to cold and wet conditions made farmers nervous that pollination would occur at the hottest, driest part of the summer. If pollen prematurely dries up, yields are typically reduced.

However, with temperatures in the 70s and 80s lately accompanied by high humidity, crop experts say pollinating conditions are perfect. The National Weather Service in Des Moines predicts temperatures will be in the mid-80s with chances of thunderstorms through Thursday in the Waterloo area. On Monday, for example, it was 81 degrees

"It's actually been ideal pollination conditions -- cool and moist," said George Cummins, an Iowa State University Extension crop specialist based in Charles City. "Farmers, at least in our area, are more optimistic considering what they've gone through."

Pam Johnson, a Charles City farmer and member of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, is more confident than two months ago. Farmers struggled just to get fields planted several weeks late. Crop experts still say plant development is 10 days behind normal.

Johnson said her fields are pretty much tasseled out.

"I don't like the weather, but the corn sure does. It's a little too humid. The corn sure turned the corner; we'll have a decent crop," Johnson said. "It looks like the tropics: everything is lush and green."

Sixty-seven percent of corn is now tasseled statewide, according to the report, or 29 percentage points behind last year. Corn silked rated 45 percent.

Corn height averaged 72 inches. The crop is rated 3 percent very poor, 9 percent poor, 29 percent fair, 44 percent good and 15 percent excellent.

Commodity buyers have taken notice of improved conditions. They're no longer aggressively buying corn. December corn on the Chicago Board of Trade sold for $6.01 on Monday afternoon, compared with nearly $8 per bushel earlier this summer.

Favorable weather isn't the only thing farmers are happy about. Crop experts say insect and disease problems are relatively low in the region.

Normally bean leaf beetle pressure should be peaking now, but ISU crop specialist Brian Lang said they're hard to find in Northeast Iowa. Yield-robbing soybean aphids also are not an issue this year.

The report said 67 percent of soybeans in Iowa are blooming and 26 percent are setting pods. That's 10 to 7 days, respectively, behind the five-year average.

The crop is rated 2 percent very poor, 8 percent poor, 28 percent fair, 49 percent good and 13 percent excellent.

Bean prices also have slid lately as conditions improved. November beans sold for $13.96 on Monday afternoon on the Chicago Board of Trade, compared with a high of $16.37 on July 3.

Lang said failed spring alfalfa seedings are common in Northeast Iowa due to excess moisture. A disease called dampening-off, which causes lesions just below the soil line, was the problem.

"Reseeding anytime in August is good with no cover crop," Lang said in a prepared statement.

Contact Matthew Wilde

at (319) 291-1579 or

matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.