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Planting delays likely in Corn Belt

An ag meteorologist says wetter than normal conditions in the central and northern Corn Belt are expected to delay the start of planting.

Jeff Andresen with Michigan State University tells Brownfield a wet winter and recent storm systems have left many areas of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa eastward toward the Great Lakes much more saturated than normal.  “Our problems with excess moisture are going to get worse before they get better.”

Andresen says wet conditions and cooler than normal soil temperatures are expected to continue for the next several weeks throughout the region.

He says this week a low pressure system moving north from the Southwest and Southern Plains could be the strongest weather pattern yet this year bringing another one to two inches of precipitation.

By the weekend Andresen says temperatures will warm up and the second half of April is expected to bring milder and drier conditions for the start of planting.