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The rain earlier this week has forced shut a short window of dry weather that area farmers had to get their much-delayed corn and soybean crops in the ground. And if they didn’t get their crops planted last weekend, it could mean a disastrous growing season.

“With the rain (Monday), this makes it the latest start to the season in my career,” said Peter Johnson, a farmer and agronomist for Real Agriculture whose land is in the Lucan area.

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This spring has been so wet and cold, farmers haven’t been able to get their planting done since their fields haven’t had a chance to dry out.

Johnson has been farming for nearly 40 years. The previous record for late starts in Southwestern Ontario was June 8 of 1983, he says. He usually has his corn planted by May 10.

He estimates about 80 per cent of the corn crop is now in local fields. Some farmers planted in conditions he calls “ugly.”

“There was an awful lot of corn that got planted in less-than-ideal conditions,” he said. “Will the yield be impacted? The answer is ‘Absolutely.’”