FRANKFORT, Ky. — October is normally a dry month in Kentucky; this fall, however, rains have made getting the crop in more challenging. Couple that with storage issues for grain and labor problems in tobacco fields, and the 2014 harvest is not coming easily for some Kentucky producers.

Precipitation has varied across the state but most areas are showing above-normal rain ranging from just trace amounts above usual levels, to nearly double the average received at this time of year. Chad Lee, an extension grain crop specialist at the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, said for producers, this is the year they need to be able to dry and store their crop, even more than in other years.

“This is the year we absolutely need the ability to dry and store grain, and it’s also occurring at a time when grain values are pretty minimal,” he said. “If we can dry and store the grain, we can try and capture as much value as possible in those crops. In terms of timing, it’s really bad timing.”

Grain prices have fallen over the last year, with corn at a level many producers say is under their input costs, especially if additional drying or storage is needed.

“It’s frustrating. This was one of our best years in terms of yield that we’ve had in a long, long time,” said Lee. “Now it’s sitting out there getting rained on, getting weathered and losing quality. When we lose quality, we’re losing price as well.”

The situation all goes back to the fact prices are already low – 57 percent below what they were two years ago, noted Lee. “All this will do is bring the price down even further.”

The season has been a dose of both plenty and not so plenty when it came to adequate moisture. Late spring and early summer saw drought or near-drought conditions in many areas but once the rains came, there have been few weeks that lacked precipitation. And, it came during a sterling season, second perhaps to only last year’s record yield for corn, soybeans and wheat.

“We didn’t expect his kind of year when we got into it, and you don’t normally see such good years back-to-back, either,” said Lee. “In some areas of the state, in the field, we’ve had our two best years ever for corn and beans for some farmers.”

The key phrase is “in the field.” Lee said not all of the crop is out yet – and getting all of it out may be difficult. According to the USDA’s crop progress report dated Oct. 12, 71 percent of the state’s corn and 24 percent of soybeans had been harvested. Those numbers have likely not updated much because of the amount of wet weather since.

Lee said farmers are losing in two ways: quality is diminishing, causing a price hit as crop remains in the field longer than normal, and some of the yield will be lost once combines are in the field. Both factors will cost the producer money at a time when prices are already low.

“At this point in time, with the weather we’re getting, you’re watching dollars leave your bank account,” he added.

The weather for this week was not looking to be much better, at least for the first couple of days. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service over the weekend was calling for cool temperatures, rain chances and cloud cover until mid-week.