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(Radio Iowa) The National Weather Service forecast is calling for hot and humid air to flow into Iowa this weekend and it could stick around through the middle of next week. The conditions might be uncomfortable for humans and animals and they could potentially pose a problem for corn producers as well. Farmer Dave Rossman from Hartley, in northwest Iowa, says this year has been a mixed bag that started out could and dry.

“And then we got really dry in July,” he says. Recent rains helped, and usually corn thrives with heat and humidity, but Rossman worries about the heat and wind.

“Well, we’re supposed to be in the upper 90s and windy. So there’s going to be a lot of evapotranspiration, but we can’t do anything about it, so we just sit back and watch,” Rossman says. Breezy conditions could offset the humidity.

“The humidity will help, but the wind is gonna blow a lot of the humidity away. You know, they talk about corn sweat and stuff, but it has to be fairly still for the humidity to stay,” he says. The most recent U-S-D-A crop report shows both corn and soybeans rated 58-percent, good to excellent, with one-third falling into the fair category. Rossman says his soybeans do have early signs of disease.
(By Sheila Brummer, Iowa Public Radio).