Farmers in Missouri, Illinois and much of the Midwest are having a tough time getting their corn planted.
The US Department of Agriculture says in Illinois just 7 percent of the corn crop is in the ground; while in Missouri it’s 22 percent.
Usually, nearly half of the nation’s corn has been planted by this time.
The National Corn Growers Association vice president Paul Bertels says it’s not just the rain that’s been a problem.
“You know in addition to the wet weather this year one of the problems we’ve had is that it’s also been abnormally cold through most of April," Bertels said. "You need soil temperatures about 50 to 52 degrees for the corn kernel to germinate."
Bertels says farmers waited to plant last week when the weather warmed, knowing the temperatures would dip again.
He says corn planted after May 15 typically yields a bushel less per acre for each day farmers are kept out of the fields.
