LE SUEUR — Minnesota farmers are racing to finish corn planting ahead of a key deadline set by the federal crop insurance program.

The late, rainy spring has slowed corn planting in Minnesota and other parts of the Midwest.

Each type of grain must be planted by a certain date for farmers to get full insurance benefits if there’s a crop failure later in the year. Monday is Minnesota’s cutoff date for corn. Insurance benefits are reduced for corn planted after that.

Le Sueur farmer Bob Braun tells The Free Press of Mankato that the bulk of his family’s land has yet to be planted. Braun says they’ll keep planting corn up until June 15. If it goes later than that, they’d plant the rest with soybeans, which mature more quickly.