This summer many farmers feared the worst when we went weeks with little to no rain.
But as they head into their fields now to harvest a summer's-worth of work, many local farmers are realzing things could have been a lot worse.
Agrculture experts, including those who work on the farm and others who montiro things from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), are suggesting things in SD and G could have been a lot worse.
Scott Banks, a crop specialist with OMAFRA, said in an interview that local farms will be looking at "an average to slightly below average" harvest this fall.
Farmers will be the first to tell you it's a lot better than the dire warnings many in agriculture were issuing this summer when we were starved for rain.
But the news isn't all good.
"Generally what we've seen is the closer you are to the St. Lawrence River, things were better becuase there was a little more rainfall there," said Banks, adding farther north, farms continued to dry out.
Renfrew, as an example, has been decimated by this summer's drought, say local farmers.
David Zummach, a cash-cropper near Lunenburg, told Seaway News things have gone better than first thought at his operation.
"It's not a good crop, but it's doing surprsingly well," he said of the corn harvest, which was in desperate need of rain a few months ago. "Some timely rains in August...if you had a field that was planted later they got rain exactly when they needed it. It held the corn from going in reverse."
Hay, however, was hit hard by the 2013 drought, as many farmers lost a full hay crop, with some only getting in a couple of cuts.
