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Weather improving for north Iowa farmer

A farmer in north-central Iowa could be planting corn by this weekend.

Speaking to Brownfield Monday, Josh Nelson of Belmond says winter and early spring moisture has recharged soils and conditions look stellar.

“I know there’s some people trying to get oats in in the area, I’m probably going to do some CRP seeding this afternoon. And we might actually get around to planting some corn possibly this weekend if these nice temperatures hold out.”

But Nelson suggests he’s not in a hurry.

“My number one fear right now is we may have a dry couple of inches on top, but the soil profile further down could be cold, it still could be wet, and we may end up causing some issues for us later on.”

He says that could be problems with emergence caused by compaction or a killing freeze in early May.