PIERCE, Neb. - 

With harvest season approaching, farmers across Nebraska are gearing up for full loads thanks to a wet June and July. For Northeast Nebraska farmer Mike Krueger the rain is helping save him more than just water usage.

“ I mean you can run up to ten to fifteen circles a year at times,” said Krueger.” And this year the fuel savings has been astronomical and the electrical savings (chuckles) with the price of corn it’s really going to help the bottom line.”

With saving money from not having to power pivots to irrigate crops, Krueger expects to save $50 dollars an acre thanks to almost 20 inches of rain. But making a profit is going to still be a challenge.

“ The less cost of inputs for the irrigation hopefully we can maybe get close to breaking even,” said Krueger. “Probably won’t be quite there but, it is what it is so.”

Despite cutting close on profit margins, Krueger likes to remain positive as this year he didn’t know if there would be enough water with the 15 inches the Lower Elkhorn Natural Recourses district allocates for.

“ We were worried about running out of water, ”said Krueger.” Maybe not about running out of water but really getting low and using up our fifteen inches because it looked bleak and once it started raining its just amazing what the good lord will provide you know so we’ve totally been blessed with the rain this year.”