Conditions last year were very favorable. There was even better soil moisture. But frost came despite what had been a very mild spring to that point, so you never know how Iowa weather is going to turn out.

I don't know if it was because of the rain or the conditions of the soil, but it slid in on him.

It looks favorable as far as planting season goes, at least the beginning of it. Soil levels are normal ... despite dry conditions in the last year. It looks to be a very mild period coming up for the next two weeks, above normal. And it's a little drier than usual, which is generally good for planting.

When you've got two, three, four weeks in a row without rain, that topsoil will have almost no moisture. It wouldn't take much to remedy the situation. A quarter-inch of rain is all it would take.

Drought likes company. If somebody else is dry in another part of the country, it's always a little bit worrisome. It just can kind of feed on itself and spread. . . . It is something to keep your eye on to see if it persists into the spring.

That's the bad news. The good news is fairly normal precipitation this spring would get . . . much of the state up to normal before spring planting begins.