Farmers seemed to race through the fields with their planters last year, but continued wet weather so far this spring has kept them waiting for the sun. Iowa Agriculture Secretary, Bill Northey, says the latest crop report showed only 3% of the state’s corn crop is in the ground, while the normal planting rate for this date is 28%.

Northey says even with some forecasts calling for some dry days ahead, it’s going to take several drying days for farmers to even get back in the fields. Northey says the big worry comes after the calendar turns from April to May. He says it seems like May fifth for central and southern Iowa and May 10th in the northern part of the state is the time when you can start losing yield if the crop isn’t planted.

Northey says there could still be a warm summer and a late fall, but he says historically, you start to lose yield if the crop isn’t planted by those May dates. Northey says a long dry and warm spell would make it much easier on farmers who’re waiting to get seeds in the ground.