By: Kali Nicole
knicole@klkntv.com
Normally, at this time of the summer, only the nation's corn crop is harvested. So far, it's already at four percent and the farmer we spoke to said he's been at it for over a week.
Dried up crops and dirt combines, they're the surest signs it's harvest season in eastern Nebraska. This year, it's not just the corn and soybeans Dave Nielsen will have in his pile, it's heartbreak too.
"It's tough when you wake up every morning you go through a hundred degree day and you can just, you can actually smell the corn cooking from this summer," said Nielsen.
It's why he's out more than a month early, reaping what little rewards he has left. "Some of the corn behind us right now is only making 15 to 30 bushel an area where normally it would be 150 to 160 corn," said Nielsen.
In fact, the drought has even made the harvesting itself hard. "It's difficult cause you can see al the junk and dead stuff getting stuck in the combine," said Nielsen, and at this point the rain is little help.
"We would have had to have gotten rain before August 1st which we didn't. So the corn is just gone. It may help a little with the soybeans," he said.
A silver lining that comes with a deadline: the next two days.
Nielsen says he's not holding his breath. So with the early harvest, be prepared for fall to feel a little different this year all thanks to the drought.
More than half of all U.S. counties have been declared natural disaster areas this summer. The majority, because of the drought.
