WASHINGTON (Commodity Online) : U.S. Department of Agriculture said rain and snow continue to delay the harvest of late season crops in the country.

In a report, the USDA said just 20% of the corn crop had been harvested in the major corn-producing states, compared with 58% on average by this point in 2004 through 2008.



Farmers also had brought in just 44% of the soybean crop, versus 88% on average over the past five seasons.

The slowdown complicates life for farmers and threatens to take a bite out of their earnings in a year when net farm income already was expected to be 38% below last year's near-record high.

In North Dakota, soybeans, sugar beet and dry edible bean harvests made modest progress. The soybean harvest is now 36 percent complete, which is behind the average of 92 percent.

Corn and sunflower harvests are both well behind average. Corn harvested for grain remained at 2 percent complete, while sunflowers were 10 percent harvested.

The USDA says the state's corn crop going into this week rated 59 percent in good or excellent condition.

Rain is good for growing crops, of course, as long as it stops in time for crops to dry out enough to be stored without rotting. The longer crops wait in the fields, the greater the risks of mold and other damage.

Dry spell never took hold this year, keeping many farmers out of their fields, especially in eastern Iowa and Illinois. Crop losses from mold are starting to hit hard, particularly in the warm Mississippi Delta region.

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