As October came to a close, there was just 20 acres of corn near the homeplace to harvest at Uldrich Farms.

Rain put a stop to operations before 11 p.m. Oct 29, and the next day was too damp to combine. Dewy, wet mornings and warm temperatures have made it feel like spring, Jordan Uldrich said, and the mosquitoes have been worse than they were all summer.

For two weeks, Jordan Uldrich has been looking at his soybean field that’s ready to harvest, but wet weather is keeping his combine parked.

“So much for having a well-orchestrated plan,” he said with a laugh Friday, Oct. 2, trying to keep spirits high after a rainy September that culminated with record breaking rain and flooding in southeastern Nebraska.

This time of year, there’s a loud whirring and shaking coming from a shop on the Brhel farm near Denton, Nebraska.

Like his dad and grandpa before him, Brian Brhel is running a seed cleaning machine that separates seeds from chaff and debris to prepare for sale and planting. While his predecessors raised and cleaned certified seed, mostly wheat, oats and soybeans, Brian Brhel works with cover crops.

It was a big change when Jason Regier moved his family from Kansas City, where he worked in youth ministry, back to southwestern Nebraska to transition the family farm as his dad retired.

It was an even bigger contrast when farmers would talk about their challenges – weeds and pests and crop-damaging fungus.

“I struck me as odd that most conversationsw I had with farmers was about killing stuff,” he said.