Rain slows planting pace

The rainy weather hasn’t helped Iowa farmers looking to get their crops in. The state Agriculture Department’s weekly report says the rain last week increased the ponding in fields and slowed what had been a rapid planting pace. Iowa farmers are already been behind last year’s planting schedule due to the wetter winter, but were starting to catch up. The Ag report says 56-percent of the corn crop’s been planted — well behind the 91-percent that was already in the ground at this time last year. Only five percent of the soybeans have been planted, also well behind the 49-percent pace of last year. The report says though, both soybean and corn planting are not that far behind the five-year average, and there’s still not a major concern about getting the crops in the ground.