Northwest Iowa Crops Page
by Todd Vagts
ISU Extension Crops Specialist
Counties Served:  Carroll, Calhoun, Crawford, Ida, Monona, Pocahontas and Sac.

Spring 2003 Subsoil Moisture Survey Results

Soil Moisture 2003 

Ames- 8 May 03-  Central Plains moisture was essentially depleted by late in the 2002 cropping season.  Late August and September rains did little to aid the crops but did begin to replenish the subsoil moisture.  Although the winter was abnormally dry, what moisture that did occur was effective in further replenishing soil moisture as soil freezing was minimal over the winter.  Measured subsoil moisture increased by an average of almost 2 inches between November and mid-April.  The April measurements showed that 90% of Iowa’s soils were at or above normal moisture content.  This was generally true for the Corn Belt as a whole east of the Missouri River.  Precipitation in Iowa exceeded 2 inches between 8 April and 8 May.  Some counties received more than 5 inches.  The greater amounts covered areas including the “dry” counties.  No Iowa counties are considered low on subsoil moisture as of the second week of May although some individual farms in scattered locations remain short of moisture.  A depiction of US and regional precipitation may be generated from the High Plains Regional Climate Center web site:  http://www.hprcc.unl.edu/products/current.html

Elwynn Taylor, Iowa State University Extension Climatologist

<A HREF="http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/weather/03smap.gif">VIEW  2003 Soil Moisture graph</A>