Degree Days - Slow but Steady Progress in Planting

Iowa recorded temperatures close to season normals the week of May 4. Seasonal accumulated degree days are hovering near average in all crop reporting districts. Scattered rainfall limited field work in some areas, but statewide another one-fifth of corn acres were planted, raising the planted acreage in Iowa to around 80 percent. Between one-fourth and one-third of the corn can now be rowed. Soybean planting has picked up, and about 20 percent is now planted