(Radio Iowa) – Planting progress was slowed again last week by wet conditions. The U-S-D-A crop report says there just two days suitable for field work due to the rain. The amount of corn planted went from 47 to 57 percent — which is now one week behind last year — after being just two days back the week before. Soybean planting moved from 30 to 39 percent complete, and is now also one week behind last year’s pace.

While the rain has slowed planting, it has helped continue to push back the drought conditions. D-N-R Hydrologist Tim Hall says the timing of the rain has been important. “We haven’t gotten you know a month’s worth of rain in one day. We’ve had several significant rainfall events that have been spaced out far enough so that moisture has time to get into the system,” Hall says. He says there has been some flooding, but the lack of soil moisture has kept that down. “The fact that the soil has been very dry has really taken the hard edge off some of the flooding,” he says.

The U-S-D-A weekly report shows 92 percent of topsoil moisture is now adequate or at a surplus — compared to 73 percent that showed adequate or surplus moisture one week ago.