Many Area Farmers are Late Getting Corn in the Ground Due to Soggy Planting Season

WITZ Radio News is an affiliate of Network Indiana 

STATEWIDE -- Indiana farmers should already have their corn in the ground by this time of year. But most of them don't.

A soggy spring is keeping many Indiana farmers from planting their crops.

This is a serious issue for Indiana's corn growers, who must plant between April 20 and May 10 to maximize crop yield, according to The Tribune-Star newspaper in Terre Haute.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that just 3-percent of the state's corn crops were in the ground by May 5, compared to nearly 40-percent last year.

The longer planting is delayed, the fewer bushels that can be produced. Fewer bushels means a smaller crop yield and a smaller profit for farmers. That can sometimes mean higher prices at the grocery store.

Other Midwestern farmers are also behind schedule, according to the The National Weather Service. Heavy rain and flooding have delayed planting in Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Minnesota.