Fall Harvest Hasn't Been Ideal for Local Farmers

The start of the harvest season has been tough, to say the least, on farmers this year.  What looked like a potential bumper crop was cut short with significant rainfall and a new disease that took over much of the corn crop.  And the most recent heavy rain left local rivers running high and spilling over into farm fields.  Wet spots in fields and flowing springs, in areas that are typically dry or drain into field tiles, are causing big headaches for local farmers.  Typically farmers like to have their crop in by Thanksgiving, but with the recent weather we've had that might be a hard date to achieve.

Many farmers have reported wet fields slowing down their harvest, or not allowing them to get into those fields at all - even after this much dry time.  In order for the combines to get out in the fields without fear of getting stuck, it either needs to get really cold for an extended period of time to allow everything to freeze or warm up, long enough, for the ground to dry out.  Neither of which look like it is going to occur.

Kimberly Meier shared some pictures of some fields she has been in over the weekend and you can see where those wet spots are.  Even the flood line of the corn crop that just fell short of reaching the ear!