No relief for flooded U.S. crops

CHICAGO (Reuters) - More rains pummeled parts of the U.S. Midwest crop belt in the past day, offering no relief to flooded crop fields or swollen rivers after days of storms, a forecaster said Friday.

Up to 2 inches of rain fell in eastern Iowa on Thursday and an inch in northern Missouri. Rains in the eastern Midwest favoured southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois where 0.3 to 2.5 inches fell.

"There seems to be more concern about farmers not being able to finish soybean planting as it's getting late," said Mike Palmerino, forecaster with DTN Meteorlogix.

"There's also corn acreage that will not get planted and won't get replanted," he said.

Roughly 17 million acres of soybeans have yet to be planted as of Sunday, based on the government's weekly crop progress report. This week's rains offered little opportunity for farmers to finish planting.

This is especially worrisome for U.S. farmers because they were counting on big corn and soybean crops to meet the world's demand for grains for food and feedstocks to produce biofuels.

More rains will move through the Midwest over the next week.

Central Missouri was forecast to get 0.25 to 1.0 inch of rain, locally heavier, on Friday. In the eastern belt, rains of 0.5 to 2.5 inches were forecast, with the central to southern portions of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio getting the most.

Moderate to heavy showers return on Sunday. From 0.25 to 1.0 inch, locally heavier, were forecast for the western belt for Sunday. The east should see similar amounts Sunday to Monday, Palmerino said.