Cold temperatures most of April have kept farmers out of the field in the western corn belt. In Nebraska, corn planting was at just 6% on April 25 compared to 15% normally. However, planters finally start to roll the last couple of days in the northeast part of the state. Belden farmer Jim Miller says they waited because the soil temperatures were too cold, but he says they’re still in a favorable planting window.

Miller says, however, they were hoping to get the crop in early to have the best chance to get above trendline yields and maybe get some early beans to market.

Mike Korth farms north of Randolph. He says the field conditions are nearly ideal and there’s good topsoil moisture to get the crop emerged. However, subsoil moisture is another question.

Korth’s farm is about 50-percent irrigated and he’s still optimistic that his dryland fields could achieve some good yields with timely rains.