CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. - Area farmers are feeling the impact of heavy rains this year. So far, the area has received nearly seven inches of above average rainfall and all of that moisture is affecting fruit and vegetable crops.
Erica Lloyd is the co-owner of Cross the Creek Farm in Penn Township. She says the rainfall is impacting her business during strawberry season.
“We are closing early [today] because we are running out of strawberries to be picked," said Lloyd.
The farmer says 20% of the land is waterlogged which creates a problem, the farmer is forced to close off a portion of the farm once strawberries are sold out.
“We have customers that are frustrated. They’ll say on Facebook like, ‘I really wish that we could come,’ or, like ‘I can’t believe you’re sold out."
The amount of rain has damaged the strawberries and mold has developed on some of the fruit.
Lloyd says she is not the only person feeling the pain from the rain. She says some of her neighbors are having a hard time growing soybeans, hay, and corn. The saturated ground from the rain makes it difficult for the farmers to plow their lands.
“We have a neighbor over there,[who] has a whole section of that field that they’re just not doing anything with because they can’t actually drive a tractor through it without getting stuck.”
Although Mother Nature has not been kind, the farmer says it comes with the territory.
"It’s a little frustrating. It's kind of like there’s a part of it that’s just farming and you gotta go with the weather and make adjustments but, it can be a little discouraging some days.”