Farmers are expecting to keep their planters tucked away in machine sheds a week or two longer than normal this year as winter is slow to release its grip on Iowa. The lingering cold and wet weather is delaying fertilizer applications and even seed delivery as farmers haven’t yet switched gears into a planting state of mind, said Cass County Farm Bureau member Dan Hansen.

“Last year, March was so nice we’d been putting on gas (anhydrous ammonia fertilizer) for three weeks. If...