ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s wettest May on record has delayed soybean planting, which is likely to affect this fall’s harvest. As of this week only 40 percent of the state’s soybean crop had been planted. By this time last year, 95 percent was in the ground. The five-year average is 83 percent.  Iowa Soybean Association Director of Marketing Grant Kimberley says most of the crop likely will be in the ground by mid-June but that will cut the amount of beans harvested per acre.

Soybean yields on average decline by a quarter of a bushel to nearly a bushel per day the seed isn’t in the ground after May 15. Modern seed varieties have been known to catch up quickly and a decent harvest could result if conditions are good from now on.