By JEFF SNYDER
MOUNT AYR, Iowa — October more than halfway over and here in the rolling hills of Ringgold County local farmers are fighting the elements to bring in their crops.
After one of the wettest Septembers on record, only about 16 percent of crops have been harvested to date. Between corn for feed and soybeans, Ringgold County contains more than 100,000 acres of harvestable crop lands. Wet weather keeps farmers on the sidelines as water logged fields prevent them from operating their machinery. The first week plus of October saw fair weather that helped the fields dry out somewhat enabling farmers to get into the fields and push round the clock harvesting between wet days. Just as the fields were beginning to dry, another round of wet weather ascended on the area toward the middle and end of last week, once again sidelining harvest efforts.
Looking at the long range forecast, it appears that another drying trend is on the way. Weekly publications like the Record News are limited at discussing weather as anything other than a historical observation or a prognostication looking over the horizon. Suffice it to say that weather is extremely important in getting product from farm to market. Farming is about risk and reward. Unfortunately, a number of the risk factors are completely out of the control of the average farmer. The reward side arrives with the help of experience and a bit of luck sprinkled in for good measure. Either way, farmers will forge ahead until its time to start it all over again.