Opinions on this year’s crop potential are heavily swayed by June rainfall totals in any given part of the state, according to Mark Licht, Iowa State University cropping systems agronomist.

"There are parts of the state thinking they have some of the best looking crops in five, six, seven years," Licht said last week. "Central and southeast Iowa looks quite good. But then you talk to folks in northwest Iowa, and they do have some issues from too much rain."

Dan Chism, a Palo Alto County Farm Bureau member, said he lost about 160 acres to flooding after 17 inches of rain in two weeks. Many farmers in the area have installed new drainage tile lines in recent years, but the rainfall was still too intense for the...