By ROWENA PLETT

Staff writer

Farmers who have been hauling water to pastures since May have one less daily task now that substantial rain has fallen. As of 8 a.m. Tuesday morning, Marion Reservoir had recorded 3.85 inches of rain since early Saturday morning, with more to come.

Elevator managers in Marion and Hillsboro reported that most corn kept for grain had been harvested, and soybean harvest had begun.

John Ottensmeier at Marion said the corn was turning out to be a little better than anticipated, but half the crop had been chopped earlier for silage feed.

Dick Tippin at Hillsboro said a few soybean fields had been harvested before the rain.

“A lot of them weren’t quite ready yet,” he said. “The rain won’t hurt the crop too much.”

Perry Gutsch, Agri Trails manager at Lincolnville, said he has had to pile corn on the ground to save space in the elevator for soybeans. He said most of the corn could be salvaged by drying it.

Gutsch said the elevator received a few loads of soybeans the day before the rain started. He said rain hadn’t hurt the beans at this point but might be a factor if it continues later into the fall.

More rain is forecast for the weekend.