MACON, Ill. (WAND) - Throughout the summer months, local farmers were hoping for more rain. It finally came Tuesday morning and is likely to continue through the latter portions of the week.
"We've been really dry. We've had no rain here for virtually a month, so this couple inches we got here soaked up really quick," Paul Butler, a farmer in Macon, said.
Rain in August would have helped growing season, but now that harvest has begun for a lot of farmers, the rain this week will only set them back.
"The biggest concern we have right now is we would have an extended delay out of the field," Butler said. "The later you get into October, the harder it gets to cut beans. You get shorter daylight hours, it gets colder, so things don't dry out as fast, and it can really cause problems with the beans."
A day of rain here and there won't delay farmers too much, but extended stretches with rain like what is being forecasted the rest of this week has Butler facing set backs.
"10 days ago we were looking at a 10 day forecast that was completely clear and we were getting pretty excited, like 'here we go, we're ready to get going.'" Butler added, "Within a couple days it changed from being 10 days of clear to 3 days of clear and then 10 days of rain and your heart just sinks a little bit."
Delays now could add up and lead to problems in the Spring.
"We have to get fertilizer spread after we're done harvesting, so if that's delayed then it delays other processes and sometimes it just gets late enough in the year, you just can't get those done," Butler said. "Then next Spring you've got a problem to deal with."
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