Harvest activity ramped up to full throttle last week as farmers in drought-stressed western Iowa raced toward the finish line while their counterparts on the eastern side of the state were still in the early stages of fall work.

“We’re darn near done with harvest here,” said Mitch Sievers, a Buena Vista County Farm Bureau member. “Beans are 100% done, and I think corn will be wrapped up by the middle of next...