FARGO - Farmers are checking their crop insurance plans as rain continues to fall in the Red River Valley, wiping out last-ditch efforts to get crops in the ground.

"We are really floating," said Wallie Hardie, who farms corn and soybeans near Fairmount in the far southeastern corner of North Dakota. "I have been farming for 26 years and we have never had anything like this."

The National Weather Service on Monday issued an overnight flood watch for south central and southeastern North Dakota. The forecast called for rain continuing in the area through today.

"I'm concerned about tonight," Hardie said Monday. "We need to avoid another two-incher. It's a very dicey situation."

Gov. John Hoeven and officials with the state's Farm Service Agency scheduled a tour today to look at flood damage in the Wyndmere and Casselton areas. Wyndmere received about six inches of rain in a couple of hours on Saturday.

"All things considered, we're not doing too bad," said Nathan Brandt, Wyndmere mayor. "A lot of people lost carpet in their basements, but we got most of the major water out of town by Sunday afternoon.

"I don't know about the farmers north of town because it doesn't seem like the water is going anywhere," he said.

The recent rains could be the final blow for planting, said Joel Ransom, a North Dakota State University extension agronomist. He said many producers have prevented-planting insurance, which provides payments for crops that are scrapped because of wet conditions.

"I would think that most people that haven't planted aren't going to plant," Ransom said. "It's wet and soggy out there."

Some crops that had looked good early in the year are now looking yellow because the standing water is depleting nitrogen in the soil, Ransom said. That could affect yields, he said.

Todd Weber, who farms near Wheatland, where the governor will be touring, said he's never seen rain cause so many problems.

"Everything has been compounded," Weber said. "It's serious."

The forecast calls for a dry and warming trend toward the weekend, with temperatures in the 80s in eastern North Dakota. But farmers would still have to wait for several days to spray for weeds, Ransom said.