Rain. Rain. A day or two of sun. Rain and rain again.

That is the weather scenario corn growers from Nebraska east to Pennsylvania faced all of April; in New York and New England mix in a couple of mid-April snowfalls. Here locally it is the same situation.

All anyone can do is wait it out. This is probably the wettest April many can remember. In fact, April is likely to close out as one of the toughest, latest corn planting seasons in U.S. history.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s April 24 crop progress report tells the story. In the 18 reporting corn states, only 9 percent of the 2011 corn crop was planted, compared to 46 percent this time last year. That 9 percent is buoyed up by planted acres in the South and Southwest, the latter of which is still hammered by historic drought. Texas, for instance, had planted 66 percent.

But most of the U.S. corn crop comes from Nebraska on east. And there, crop planting progress remains stalled out — swamped by rainfall. USDA’s corn planting progress reports tell the story:

South Dakota and Wisconsin:

Nothing moved during the last half of April.Illinois: Last year, 67 percent of the corn was in the ground by April 24. This year, only 10 percent was planted by that date.Indiana: Some 50 percent of last year’s Hoosier State corn was planted by April 24. Only 2 percent of the intended acreage was planted by that date.Iowa: By April 24, 61 percent of the 2010 corn crop was in the ground. Only 3 percent of this year’s intended corn crop is plantedMichigan: 28 percent of last year’s corn crop was planted by April 24. Only 1 percent of this year’s corn acreage was in by the same date.Nebraska: 20 percent of the 2010 corn crop was planted by that date. Only 55 of it is in the ground by April 24, 2011.Ohio: Last year, the Buckeye State had 39 percent of its corn in the ground by April 24. Last week’s report noted only 1 percent of the crop was planted.Pennsylvania: A year ago, 16 percent of its corn was planted by the 24th. Last week, only 1 percent was reported as planted.Even when the sun does shine and soil conditions appear ready to plant there is probably going to still be wet areas within a field. According to Penn State, in some situations certain planter attachments may increase the optimum planting window.These planter attachments are available to provide more success planting under suboptimal conditions.Coulters: The bubble coulter is very likely to cause sidewall compaction. Use 13-wave coulters or turbo coulters instead.Depth-control wheels: Use a depth-control wheel that does not press down right next to the double-disk openers (made by Case-IH). This avoids packing the soil next to the seed and leaves soil loose on top.Closing wheels: Avoid using cast iron or rubber closing wheels under high pressure to get that seed slot closed. Spiked, rippled or posi-close closing wheels are available that do not pack the soil on top of the seed while still closing the seed slot.

Luke Fritz is executive director of the Butler County Farm Service Agency.