Here are a couple wire service articles that together give a good rundown of the forecast details for the next three to five days.--Bryce

US Midwest set for minor flooding on weekend rain

* Flood warnings stretch from Dakotas to Midwest

* Rain, snow over Midwest this weekend

By Meredith Davis

CHICAGO, March 18 (Reuters) - Rains and melting snow are expected this weekend to trigger more flooding in parts of U.S. Midwest, mainly in Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, adding to concerns over possible delays in spring seedings.

Although sowing of the corn and soybean crops in the Midwest does not begin until next month, the melting of near-record snow in some areas this winter has fanned concerns that seedings could be delayed for a second straight year. (DTN comment--tn our view, this would actually be the 3rd straight year of delayed planting.)

The National Weather Service issued several flood warnings for the Midwest, mainly Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri, where melting snow and rain are causing extremely soggy conditions.

Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures, which rallied on Wednesday due to concerns over possible delays in seedings, were down on Thursday as the dollar rose.

"The flooding could be more significant south of Des Moines, Iowa because that is where the heaviest rain is going to be," said Mike Palmerino, a forecaster with Telvent DTN in Boston.

Iowa is typically the top corn and soybean producing state in the country.

A half to 1.5 inches (1.3 to 3.8 cm) of rain is expected to fall south of Des Moines through Saturday. Conditions should turn dry on Sunday and Monday. Areas north of Des Moines could see 0.10 to 0.50 inch of rain.

The NWS expected moderate to major flooding along several Iowa rivers, some of which are jammed with ice.

The eastern Midwest is expected to be dry through Friday, with rain developing over the weekend. Portions of Illinois could see snow mixed with rain, Palmerino said.

The eastern Midwest will see mild temperatures in the low to mid-60s F (18 C) through Friday, but will dip into the 40s F during the weekend.

"Depending on how much rain we get, we could see flooding increase across the Midwest caused by melting snow, saturated soils and increasing rainfall," Palmerino said.

The southern and central Plains will not escape precipitation this weekend. Portions of the regions could see wet snow on Friday and Saturday with unusually cold temperatures in the 30s F (minus 1 to 4 C). Typically late March temperatures are in the 60s F.

The swollen Red River will continue to be fed by melting snow, with warmer weather forecast through this week.

The river reached 33.37 feet (10.17 meters) at Fargo, the biggest city in the Red River Valley straddling North Dakota and Minnesota.

The river has risen nearly 2 feet (0.61 m) since Wednesday and is expected to crest at 38 to 39 feet this weekend. It set a flood record of 40.8 feet in 2009.

Floods pose risk for US livestock sector

* Red River floods may cause "hiccup" in corn prices

* Higher feed costs can hurt fragile livestock sector

CHICAGO, March 17 (Reuters) - The flooding on the Red River, which separates North Dakota and Minnesota, could cause sufficient crop damage to drive corn prices high enough to further stress struggling U.S. livestock producers, an agricultural economist said on Wednesday.

"All it takes is a minor hiccup on corn yield to send this market running and then you would really see a lot of this hoped for recovery on the livestock side go up in vapor," Michael Swanson, economist at Wells Fargo and Co, said during a Wednesday session at the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit.

Melting snow has caused major flooding on the Red River, which threatens to delay spring planting of corn.

"It would qualify as a hiccup," Swanson said of the flooding.

While the Red River Valley has about 3 percent of the U.S. corn, planting delays or crop losses there could be enough to spike prices higher, he said.

Corn prices <Cc1> are down 4 percent from a year ago and down 50 percent from 2008 when they topped the $7 per bushel.

But, Swanson said any hint of a crop problems combined with speculative buying could quickly send prices higher.

Corn for May delivery at the Chicago Board of Trade closed Wednesday at $3.74 per bushel, up 7-1/4 cents for the day, but down from about $3.90-1/2 a year ago.

Cattle and hog prices have just recently turned profitable for producers, but that profitability follows nearly two years of losses. As a result, the livestock sector is still financially weak and still vulnerable to outside pressures such as an unexpected jump in feed prices.

"I think people are missing how precarious the financial health is right now in a lot of the protein sectors," said Swanson.

Dairy producers are struggling as milk prices are too low to offset current feed costs, he said.

"These guys can't take $12.85 (per cwt) milk with $3.75 (per bushel) cash corn and make any money. It's going to be another headache," he said.