Iowa has seen far more precipitation this year than in previous years.

Dallas County ISU Extension Field Agronomist Meaghan Anderson points out the increased rainfall has actually stalled farmers from finishing planting. She explains that farmers were able to start earlier in the fields this year thanks to the warmer temperatures from the winter season. Anderson is not surprised about the rain but rather the amount of it and how often it’s been recently.

“It’s been kind of cloudy, overcast and rain every single day. Very rarely did it come down in a really heavy manner that moved a lot of soil or resulted in a lot of water movement across the surface as opposed to being absorbed. It was just a really unusual time frame.”

Anderson shares that she can’t recall seeing this much rainfall occurring in this short period of time compared to  the last four years.