Joe Sperfslage operates a family farm in Linn County near Coggon, growing 1,800 acres of corn, 800 acres of soybeans and 150 acres of wheat. Sperfslage is the Linn County Farm Bureau vice president and a board member of River Valley Cooperative in eastern Iowa and Western Illinois. “About half of our acres end up in cover crops each year,” Sperfslage said, depending on market opportunity. About 90% of the farm is no-till. He gets help from his father, Joe, and hires seasonal help as needed. He is also a founding member and president of his local FFA alumni chapter.

It was a good week for book work. It was so dry we’re not going to get anywhere anyway that gets us in the field. We also had hail and tornadoes going around us. Manchester, northeast of here, got bombed with rain. Farmers are itching to get out, but we’ve had lots of big storms the past few weeks.

Between the volume of rain and its frequency, meaningful field work across east-central Iowa has largely been limited to tile repair. A brief window opened up the first half of last week for some spraying to take place and a handful of planters to roll on lighter ground, but heavy rain returned on Thursday and more came today. Overall, progress of any sort is behind where growers would like to be at this point in the season.

The weather pattern in east-central Iowa finally seems to be turning the corner. Fields are starting to dry out, and equipment is beginning to move, though overall planting progress remains minimal at this point. We continue to watch the forecast closely as the window to make up lost ground is narrowing.

After a slow start to planting, most concerns have been eliminated by a week of excellent progress, and most guys in this area will likely be wrapping up this week. After an April of unrelenting rain, some are already voicing concern that the spigot may have prematurely shut off on us. We wouldn't be farmers if we didn't always fret over the weather, but a shot of rain wouldn't be turned away, if only to ease concerns.

Not much to report here. Planting wrapped up for the most part last week, and the forecast looks perfect for an even and fast emergence.

The past week brought measurable rain over several days, giving the soil the opportunity to soak it in and loosen the crust for easier emergence. The cool weather that followed has put a pause on crop development, but the forecast is turning much warmer. With the excellent moisture we have in place, I expect black and brown fields to start exhibiting a sheen of green soon.

Post Memorial Day weather has been excellent. Winds have been calmer, allowing sprayers to return to the fields. Some operations have begun to sidedress corn, and most of the first hay cutting appears to have come off without being rained on. Over the weekend, we managed to snag a few tenths of an inch of rain, though showers were spotty and amounts varied depending on where you were.

Last week's weather was about as close to ideal as one could get here in east-central Iowa. Farm operations were able to move forward uninhibited with sunny skies and calm winds before rain moved in Thursday evening and continued off and on throughout the weekend. The forecast is calling for heat, heat, heat and additional rain this week — put it all together and we have the perfect equation for a great crop. I'm certainly not counting my eggs yet as we are far from the end of the growing season, but at this point in the season I'll take good news when I have it.

Field work continues, though in a limited fashion, as farmers manage to squeeze into the fields for a day, maybe two, before rain pushes them back out. Looking ahead, the weather pattern appears to continue this trend for the near term at least. Aside from some localized flooding and wind damage, the crop continues to look excellent. Between chemical resistance, timing and Mother Nature, I'm not sure when weeds aren't a problem. It’s too early for bugs or disease problems to be showing up.

Recent weeks have been cool and damp, perfect weather for fostering disease. Much to my disappointment, conversations with my agronomist last week verified that Iowa State Extension has already confirmed the presence of tar spot in central Iowa. It's important to note that tar spot overwinters in Iowa and these confirmed cases are isolated, but we were not expecting disease issues to show up on our radar quite this early in the growing season. Both corn and beans would benefit from additional heat in the forecast, and as an added benefit, the heat would slow disease progression. Otherwise, field work continues to move along at a slow but steady pace, with farmers squeezing into the fields in the small gaps that Mother Nature has been providing.

The rain has subsided, allowing bean post-emerge applications and sidedressing to nearly wrap up across the area. Summer heat has arrived, and growers are monitoring disease progression in corn carefully to determine whether this year's conditions will justify the ROI for a two-pass fungicide program.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the primary story in east-central Iowa continues to be rainfall. We are currently considering ourselves fortunate not to have received some of the volumes that other parts of the state saw over the past week. The earliest-planted corn in this area is beginning to tassel, meaning fungicide applications are not far away.

The crop report from east-central Iowa this week is a simple one — things look good and not much has changed. Corn has begun to hit its reproductive stages, and disease monitoring continues. Soybean fields are canopying nicely and looking great, but we all know how beans can surprise us, so I'm not counting any eggs yet. Sometimes the best news in farming is no news at all, and this week that appears to be the case across much of east-central Iowa.

Hot and humid pretty much sums up the weather lately. Spotty storms were appropriately called so last week — most guys missed most or all the rain, but some got a welcome shot. As I write this Monday morning, the first of two rounds of widespread rain is moving through the area. A notable decline in temperatures is expected to follow, which should set up ideal corn pollination weather. In the field, fungicide applications are underway on corn and soybeans.

Moisture in the fields looks excellent, disease pressure remains minimal, and fungicide applications are continuing across east-central Iowa. The biggest concern on our operation right now isn't in the field, it's in our diesel tanks. Diesel isn't an input we discuss often, but with prices well into the $4 range and the potential for further increases ahead of harvest, this could become a serious issue as we enter our heaviest period of consumption. Some area energy suppliers have put a freeze on writing new contracts for growers looking to lock in a fall price, leaving many operations exposed to the rising cost of energy heading into harvest season.