A week of heavy rains has caused what one Putnam County potato grower called a tri-county disaster.
"We had 13 inches of rain by noon Wednesday,"said Crescent City grower Joey Froehlich.
"It's a disaster - it's too wet and I think people will have quality issues."
Springtime means hours of work in the fields for area growers, harvesting potatoes then preparing them for shipment.
"We had 13 inches of rain by noon Wednesday,"said Crescent City grower Joey Froehlich.
"It's a disaster - it's too wet and I think people will have quality issues."
Springtime means hours of work in the fields for area growers, harvesting potatoes then preparing them for shipment.
Up until Monday, Froehlich, the president of Wesnofske Farms near Crescent City, who raises about 200 acres of white table stock variety potatoes, said he was doing pretty well with a good crop that was a little bit above average. Market prices were predicted to be good.
Froehlich said he has been in the fields harvesting since April 30. With the onset of heavy rains this week, digging has halted.
"I've got 100 acres left to dig and I don't think I can get those off the field unless a miracle happens,"he said. "We've got water standing in the rows - we just can't get out there."
Some area growers haven't started harvesting.
"For them it could be a total loss,"he said. "There will be a lot of total losses - it's going to be bad and it will be a long summer."
Froehlich said he has been in the fields harvesting since April 30. With the onset of heavy rains this week, digging has halted.
"I've got 100 acres left to dig and I don't think I can get those off the field unless a miracle happens,"he said. "We've got water standing in the rows - we just can't get out there."
Some area growers haven't started harvesting.
"For them it could be a total loss,"he said. "There will be a lot of total losses - it's going to be bad and it will be a long summer."
