Spring planting is off to a fast start in South Dakota.
The latest USDA crop progress report shows 23 percent of the state’s corn crop is planted. The five-year average for this time of year is just seven percent.
Meantime six percent of soybeans are in the ground — usually the state is at around two percent.
Spring wheat is 79 percent planted, well ahead of the average of 44 percent.
Dry conditions remain a problem, though. The report said 65 percent of the state’s topsoil is rated as short or very short on moisture.