Heavy rains slow harvest across Minnesota

Recent heavy rains have slowed the harvest for farmers in many parts of Minnesota.

According to the Minnesota crop report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only 3.1 days were suitable for fieldwork during the week that ended Sunday.

Central and southern Minnesota saw thunderstorms last week, leading to wet fields and flooding in some areas. Farmers are concerned about mold in corn and soybeans, stalk problems in corn and rot caused by wet soil.

Minnesota's corn crop is maturing ahead of average. Seventy percent of corn acreage was mature, six days ahead of the five-year average and three days ahead of last year.

Eighty-three percent of soybeans were dropping leaves, three days ahead of average. But the soybean harvest was behind average, at 13 percent complete