Inclement weather hurts farmers during harvest

One of the worst nightmares for farmers all around the country is inclement weather during harvest season.
For Minnesota farmers they have gotten their fair share of bad weather, including some snowfall on Sunday.
Aside from the very early season snow fall that took place on Sunday, one weather issue that farmers across the state have been dealing with is the unusual volume of rain.
As of last week the amount of rainfall that has taken place is more than the average amount for the month of October, with still half of the month to go.
For the Toquam family farm, their goal, like many other farmers, is to have their harvest completed by Thanksgiving.
The last time they had significant rain was in 2007 when they were harvesting and finishing up on Thanksgiving.
This year with the poor farming weather they feel like they will be lucky to have their harvest done by then.
“We will need a good 10 straight days of good weather,” said Brennen Toquam, one of the farmers for the Toquam family farm.
One of the main issues they described when it comes to inclement weather is the fact that their vehicles may get stuck out in the fields, which causes a delay and a headache for farmers.
Another major issue that farmers face is that if they do bring their vehicles out in the field during rain, the driving on the mud causes a huge mess, which not only effects them for the harvest but also for next spring when it comes down to planting.
Toquam said that farming is a lot of fun but also requires cooperation from the weather to make it effective.
“Farming is a lot of fun when Mother Nature cooperates,” he said. “ When the first thing that farmers do in the morning is watch the weather and see nothing but rain the forecast it can be miserable.”
Be sure to follow more updates about the harvest season in the DCI.