MERIDIANVILLE, AL (WAFF) -
Heavy rain across the state has helped ease the drought conditions many farmers faced over the summer.
The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor says two-thirds of the state is drought-free, a big improvement from a few weeks ago.
Local farmers said after a very dry summer the recent rain has helped them bounce back.
"It was trying on everybody," said Stewart McGill. He's a farmer at Tate Farms in Meridianville. "Every local farmer around here was having a problem with what's the corn going to do? What's the cotton going to do? What are the beans going to do? We were all in really bad shape."
Farmers finally found relief in the form of rain. McGill said even though the crops have gotten a drink from Mother Nature, not all of them have thrived.
"Corn is still in bad shape," McGill said. "We're still just now starting to feel the brunt of that drought now that corn is being harvested."
Despite the disappointing corn, McGill said other crops have come a long way.
"The local rains and the late rains have helped the beans and cotton we've really put a top crop on cotton and late beans and wheat are really doing well," he said. "So we're excited about where we are now. Around here we've got a lot of pumpkins on the ground."
With pumpkins on the ground and other crops coming in, McGill has one last request from Mother Nature.
"Now we want it to stop raining," he said. "I know we begged for it for a long time, now we want it to stop. It's harvest time we need the cotton bowls to open up, beans to start drying out and we get that with sunshine so we don't need any more rain, we're good."
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