With much of the corn and soybean crop mature, farmers are itching to get into the fields. But above average rainfall most of the summer and a wet start to fall has halted the harvesting of what promises to be a very good crop. While the fields are too wet to drive in now, in many areas of the region harvesting could resume with about a week of dry weather. All of this week is forecast to to have little or no chance of rain. But for farmers east and southeast of Mankato, harvest is a long way off after 10 inches or more of rain fell in 48 hours. Jeffrey Vetsch, of the Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca, said all of Waseca County is oversaturated. "The crops are at maturity. It's a bad time to get this much rain. He said that because the plants are no longer growing they can't take up moisture and help remove excess water in the fields like they would earlier in the season. "The only way this is going to go away is through the tile drainage systems in the fields. But the rivers and streams and ditches are so full it's going to be weeks." Vetsch said that crops sitting in water in low areas won't be harvested anytime soon, even if dry weather returns. "They may never get harvested, or if they do it will be November," he said. "Farmers will just have to start in the higher areas of the fields and as they dry out and try to come back and get those low areas." He said the wet weather is also starting to rot the stalks of corn plants, leaving them susceptible to breaking over in the wind. And the saturated soil means that when heavy farm equipment does get in the fields they will compact the soil. "That doesn't bode well for fields for years to come." Still, he said, the crop in the field is good if farmers can get it out. Outside of Waseca County and parts of eastern and southeastern Blue Earth County, fields are wet but generally not flooded. Pat Duncanson, who farms west of Mapleton, said several of the earlier rains missed them. They harvested some corn Tuesday and Wednesday and got 3.5 to 4 inches of rain Wednesday night and Thursday. "We've got some flooding but not of biblical proportion. The fields are very wet but nothing close to what Waseca is seeing." He said that when they were in the field, the soils were in better condition than expected. "We were pleasantly surprised that the fields were firmer than we thought. We were still getting some compaction, which isn't good, but we went through real well." Kent Thiesse, farm management analyst and vice president at MinnStar Bank in Lake Crystal, said fields near any rivers, streams or creeks will likely be a total loss in most of the region, as will most other low lying, poorly drained portions of farm fields. He said soybean harvest is the main concern for producers right now. "Once the soybeans are mature, they dry down rather rapidly in the field, especially with warm, sunny weather conditions. Once this occurs, the soybean pods can pop open in the field prior to harvest." Thiesse said the crop damage and harvest delays are especially difficult for farmers that are facing very tight profit margins. He advised that farmers with crop insurance contact their insurance agent prior to harvesting fields to make sure that losses are reported and verified. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is still predicting a bumper crop for the state, a bit higher than the big yields seen last year. Topsoil moisture in the state was rated at 62 percent adequate and 36 percent surplus. Nearly half of Minnesota corn acreage was mature and the condition of corn is rated 84 percent good to excellent. More than 90 percent of the soybean crop was turning color and 56 percent of the crop was dropping leaves or beyond. Source - http://www.mankatofreepress.com