Weekend Rain Puts a Smile on Farmers' Faces - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

A rainy Saturday put a smile on many farmers faces.

As Ag reporter Sarah Gustin explains for some farmers those drops fell in just the knick of time.

(Sarah Gustin / sgustin@kxnet.com) "A million dollar rain that's how one farmer describes the moisture that fell in this field this weekend. Turning these soybean plants into a crop."

Dennis Renner farms south of Mandan. 

His gauge measured nearly an inch and a half.

An amount he says is enough to carry his row crops to harvest.

(Dennis Renner / Farmer) "It was very timely. we had a rain a week before of about 1/2 inch. So it wasn't real critical, but this will set us up, set the crop up for the finish."

He says his corn, sunflowers and soybeans were all running out of time.

(Dennis Renner / Farmer) "I think everything was at the right stage for the rain. We didn't have anything that was dried up to the point where the rain wouldn't help it."

He says of all the crops, his corn probably appreciated the drink the most.

(Dennis Renner / Farmer)"If we wouldn't have gotten this rain I don't know what our yield would have been on the corn, but the pollination is good and the kernel develop, probably would have been light test weight 25-30 bushel corn. Now we probably got a shot at 80 or 90 bushel, maybe more." 

And it wasn't just the crops that appreciated those rain drops.

(KaSondra Staiger / Burleigh Co. Extension Agent) "Especially for our pastures right now. we were getting really dry. we are going into the fall. we are kinda in need of a wet fall. we have had a really dry summer. a lot of the pastures aren't looking good anymore. A lot of our crops, especially the corn is getting really dry. we are seeing a lot of corn fields that are getting real burned up Some of those corn fields are young enough where they are still developing that head, so that moisture is just crucial to help get those heads developed."

Renner's son got married Saturday and he didn't mind rain on the wedding day.

(Dennis Renner / Farmer) "No, no we should probably have a outdoor wedding every year."

Renner says now that they have the rain, they are hoping for a late frost to give his crops enough time to develop.