Devin Davis’s work on his family farms began at age 10. He eventually returned to work there after attending the University of Northern Iowa, Drake and the Culinary Institute of America. Helping operate 2,000 acres in Warren, Clarke and Madison counties, Davis hopes to boost soil health and reduce risk using no-till, cover crops and buffer strips. In addition, Davis has worked to expand his crop rotation by double-cropping winter wheat with soybeans. He receives help on the farms from his great-uncle Warren Davis.

It’s been pretty darn wet and unseasonably cold, as well. We did not get much done until yesterday with the sprayers out in the fields. We have not touched the planter yet. If the next two to three weeks can be drier and highs near 75 degrees, that’s getting close to when we want to hit dirt. We’ve had other flurries of activities, such as some anhydrous spraying, but you don’t want to plant in mud. We’ll wait and see how it goes for awhile.

This week was a busy one. Tractors finally started to get moving and a lot of people started planting or finishing up field work Monday through Wednesday. Another rainstorm came through Thursday and stopped most field work. Watching it rain yesterday (Sunday) and today (Monday). We are catching up on maintenance, and we will have the sprayer running where we can before it is dry enough to plant again. We are hoping to be back in the field planting on Wednesday.

Busy week this week. I believe most people in this area got into the field as the last of the rain missed most of us. The last of fertilizer was going on as well as spraying and tillage. The weekend saw planters running, and we are sitting about 40% planted ourselves.

We had a great window for field work this last week. Everyone has been running hard since last weekend. I believe a lot of people will finish with planting or be getting close in the next few days. We've finished corn, and we our trying to wrap up the last 35% of beans as well as finish preemerge spraying. Hay fields are starting to look pretty good, and we will be thinking about first cutting soon.

We had a wide-open window of dry conditions across the area for the last week. Almost everyone has wrapped up planting with the beautiful weather, and some hay fields were cut. Things are dry, and a lot of people would like to see rain to make sure germination is successful.

We picked up between 2 and 4 inches of rain over the weekend and heading into the week. This week's colder weather kept the fields from drying out. Field work has been at a standstill for the week, but most people were wrapping up before the rain. There has been some discussion on spotty emergence and replanting but no more than an average year. We are now waiting and seeing how emergence and early growth goes. My top priority for the upcoming week will be to start postemerge spraying on our earlier-planted corn that is starting to reach V2-V3. After that, it will be mowing and putting up hay.

We received about an inch of rain over the 22nd to the 24th. Then we had another half inch between the 29th and the 31st. The crops needed both the rain and the heat that we have had. They are growing rapidly now that we are receiving a good amount of heat as well as rain. First-cutting hay has been cut and put up. People are focusing on sidedressing corn and weed control. Hopefully we will have a chance to get back into the field soon.

We did not have a lot of fieldwork days this week. We received rain at the beginning of the week and a few inches over the weekend. Beans have started to put on trifoliates, and the corn is reaching V4-V8 depending on plant date. The rain and warm weather was needed, and the crop is coming along quickly now.

It was a quiet week due to the multiple rounds of rain that came through our farm. Some ponding is visible in fields, and some corn is yellowing from excess moisture. Only about one day was suitable for field work. We haven’t had any major repairs. We had minor repairs on the sprayer and the hay equipment for when it’s time to finish spraying and second cutting of hay. We have determined not to do any replanting since we believe it’s too late for that to be successful. We also don't believe the ponding will amount to any serious yield loss at this time.