6/8/17 – 5:20 A.M.

It wasn’t a great planting season for area farmers. The Courier reports farmers finished planting most of Hancock County’s soybean crop last week, and they had 80 percent of the corn crop in the ground at the end of April. However, it wasn’t easy.

Ohio State University Extension educator Ed Lentz tells the newspaper the cool and wet conditions in May made it difficult for people to get into their fields. He added that even if farmers planted before it got wet, the hard rain showers and cool temperatures hardened the soil, making it hard for the crops to sprout.

Replanting is an option for farmers, but it has risks. Late planted corn is more susceptible to summer drought and early fall frosts.

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