Men do most of the agricultural fieldwork, except for corn planting which is a community event in which both men and women participate.

The department also reported that corn planting was behind the normal pace, as expected.

Depeaux was not a farmer, but he thought he recognized the stubby remains of corn plantings, although the stalks had been removed.

The department said corn planting was 97 percent complete as of Sunday compared with the five-year average of 99 percent for that date.

The weather will allow many farmers to finish remaining corn planting.

Soybeans came under pressure from a concern that additional acres will be planted in areas of the Midwest where corn planting has been delayed.

Investors have been bullish for months on the expectation that there would be no restrictions this year on corn planting, whether or not policy changes occur.

The survey showed, for instance, that biotech corn plantings could be down 24 percent from a year ago and soybeans could be down 9 percent.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department announced that corn planting was under way, with about 15 percent of the crop planted through Sunday.

Nationally, corn planting was 92 percent finished as of Sunday, and soybeans were 56 percent completed - both slightly behind normal, the Agriculture Department said.