MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Spring fieldwork is off to a late start because of winter's stubborn grip on Minnesota. But yields shouldn't be hurt as long as farmers can get into their fields soon after Easter.

Southeastern Minnesota got a fresh dusting of snow Monday. But fieldwork has barely begun. The forecast calls for below-normal temperatures with the possibility of more snow. Yet southern Minnesota is rapidly approaching the traditional start of its ideal period for planting corn.

University of Minnesota Extension climatologist Mark Seeley says producers probably won't be able to begin fieldwork in earnest until the last week of April.

Agronomist Jeff Coulter says the optimal window for planting corn is usually April 25-May 7 in southern Minnesota, said. But he says producers usually can delay until mid-May with no yield reductions.

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