Farmers race against time to harvest

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (WLFI) - Farmers are racing the calendar to get their crops harvested before the weather turns too cold.

Montgomery County farmer Keith Sayler owns about 900 acres near Crawfordsville and is racing time to harvest his corn. He said a cooler summer and recently wet weather has made it difficult for the corn to dry enough to harvest.

"The temperature was off so it is kind of keeping the corn from drying up," explained Sayler. "We planted late in the spring. As far as yields, we are probably better off in this area than some other areas are because we didn't get to planting quite as late as some of them did."

Sayler said there have been years where he is done harvesting by Halloween. This year, he is hoping to be finished by the end of the November.

Soybeans have already been harvested. Sayler said the yield is normal, but drying the corn is what takes so much time.

"The soybeans were pretty decent. We had a pretty good yield in soybeans. The corn, the moisture is holding up and staying up on the corn. The elevators aren't able to handle all the wet corn. It's slowing us way down. The dryers haven't been used for years. It takes a long time to get those back to working again," Sayler said.

Sayler doesn't think cool temperatures and wet weather will affect how much corn he harvests. He is just worried about it drying in time.