The Daily News

Since the beginning of 2009, the Twin County area has received 32.12 inches of precipitation, almost 2 more inches than in 2008. In October alone, the area received 7.04 inches, similar to last October's 7.61 inches.

The normal precipitation for the area, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, is 21.87 per year and 2.03 inches in October.

The excessive precipitation means a slowed harvest, rot or mold in some crops, soft gravel roads and difficult maintenance for the highway departments.

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About 80 percent of the sugar beets have been harvested for Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative, said Chris DeVries, communications director. The harvest is still going but is expected to close soon, he said, and four pile grounds are open.

"We're better percent-wise, but the sugar content and tonnage are below average," DeVries said.

Last year 30 percent of the sugar beet crop was left in the ground. Similar to last harvest, farmers are having a hard time getting into the fields.

Richland County Extension Agent Dale Siebert said the moisture and lack of sunshine has made it extremely difficult for farmers. The crops are high in moisture, causing problems not only with harvest, but storage as well.

"We're starting to see some ear molds in the corn, which will affect the storage," Siebert said. "There's mold spores in the grain and when conditions are right in storage - warm temperatures and moisture - mold will grow and cause problems."

Soybeans are high in moisture too, making it difficult to dry them. Siebert said soybeans can be dried in a dryer, but the high temperatures can cause a lot of mechanical damage to the beans, like splitting. Beans dry best in natural air with lower temperatures.

"The late harvest is going to mean another year where we don't get much fall tillage done," Siebert said. "This will create a rush next spring and crops not planted in a timely manner."

The wet and muddy harvest has caused significant issues for both Richland and Wilkin highway departments. Richland County Engineer Tim Schulte said several bridges and roads were closed Oct. 31 due to high water or water over the roadways. Since then the Wild Rice River throughout the county has dropped 3-4 feet, but he'd like to see it drop more before the first freeze.

Many gravel roads are soft from excessive moisture seeping in through ruts left by heavy farm and truck traffic. There are some low water crossings along Antelope Creek Schulte said his crews are fixing for the fourth time this year.

"These are roads the ag community needs to get to fields," he said. "It's been kind of a trying year for us, to say the least."

With October having been so dreary, roads didn't have a chance to dry out, Schulte said, which affected the amount of blading motor grader operators could accomplish. Now, the operators are running 10 hour days to catch up while the weather is nicer, he added.

"We're doing the best we can to keep things moving along," Schulte said.

In Wilkin County, the highway department is mainly dealing with packed mud on the roads from harvest. Wilkin County Engineer Tom Richels said they are working to get more gravel to the worst spots, but it is difficult to keep the roads well-maintained with the amount of traffic and excessive moisture.

"This is almost a carbon copy of last year," he said.

This week, Richels plans for motor grader operators to begin blading with serrated edged blades to cut up some of the mud packed onto the roads. He hopes this will bring the gravel back to the surface.

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