Farmers react to heavy rain after weeks of drought

MUKWONAGO, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Southeast Wisconsin saw some significant rain in the forecast for the first time in weeks.

This comes after a tough growing season for local farmers. CBS 58 previously spoke with agronomist Chris Reichert, with Country Vision Coop in Sheboygan, who said it's been a shorter and inconsistent growing season.

"Our crops were planted later because of the wet spring. We have seen some issues now, where the dryness has limited some of the yield potential because the plant is either dying or maturing much quicker, not allowing that grain to completely fill out," Reichert explained.

Rob Schuett's family owns Schuett Farms in Mukwonago. He said early in the growing season, his farm experienced wet conditions. In later months, dry and warm weather caused some problems for his pumpkin, soybean and sweet corn crops. 

“We started out this summer having a real good chance of having outstanding yields, but without having rain the last month, it really dried up quick," Schuett said. “It’s just tough all over.”

With rain showers on Sunday, Sept. 22, Schuett Farms had significant flooding in their pumpkin patch. They posted video of it to Facebook.

“The rain came this morning, flooded everything," Schuett said. “The pumpkins literally were floating in the water.”

Even with all that extra water, Schuett doesn't believe that will be enough to support the drought his crops experience as the growing season now transitions to the harvest.  

“I’m afraid this rain isn’t going to make much difference. It’s too late," Schuett said. 

Schuett said dry conditions are best during the harvest, so he homes rain doesn't continue to help farmers in the coming months. Schuett emphasized the importance of the weather to Wisconsin farms.

“Everything we do is about the weather," Schuett said.