If you want an good example of how the rain is affecting local farmers, look no further than the truck that was stuck in Darren Swank's driveway Thursday afternoon.
“The truck was coming in to do a delivery,” he says. “I thought he was going to get up on the gravel area, which he didn't make it. He just looped in and got stuck in the water.”
It's not the only major issue he's facing.
“As far as growing in winter, like during the main, core growing season, I’ve never seen it like this in 15 years I've been doing this.”
His small Loxahatchee farm is overwhelmed with water.
“It’s been raining the whole winter,” Swank says. “It started off dry through the summer, I knew we were in trouble.”
Swank says he was able to save a good portion of his crops by raising them in bags.
Overall, the rainy winter will cost him big - 25% of his crops, he says, will be lost.
“I’m behind right now, and I don't think it's going to get any better,” he says.
He says he's trying to pump the water out of a nearby canal to help reduce the water on his property.
Swank is doing the best to help himself - because he says it won't come from anywhere else.
“There isn't really any assistance for small farmers,” he says. “Most of the insurances are geared toward the bigger guys.”
Eventually, Swank was able to get the truck out of the mud and away from the farm.
One challenge out of the way, with an even bigger challenge seemingly looming on the horizon for him, and other smaller farmers.
“You just gotta plow through it, and hope next year is better.”
