A farmer works some ground earlier this week off state Route 118 south of Tama Road. Until heavy rains Tuesday, soil conditions had been improving nicely for spring planting, said Chris Gibbs, executive director of the Mercer County Farm Service Agency. So far, farmers are on schedule to get crops in the ground in a timely manner. "If farmers could get started planting their corn in the next 10 to 15 days that would fine and refreshing to have something like a normal year," Gibbs said. Farmers usually start planting corn April 15 or after, until May 10, he said. Farmers typically plant corn and then soybeans.