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By Bill O’Boyle

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Dan Kalman and Joey Thompson pick golden beets to bring to O’Malia’s stand at the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market. O’Malia said too much rain has caused some delays in planting certain crops.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_TTL062515Farmers-Market1.jpg.optimal.jpgDan Kalman and Joey Thompson pick golden beets to bring to O’Malia’s stand at the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market. O’Malia said too much rain has caused some delays in planting certain crops.

WILKES-BARRE — Local farmers are coping with too much rain.

The rainfall has caused some farmers to delay planting, which means some crops won’t be available until later than normal.

Farmers will never say they don’t want rain, having suffered through past dry spells that caused limited harvests and poor quality in crops.

Larry O’Malia owns 20 acres of land in Plainsville near the Susquehanna River and he leases another 20 acres there. He said his soil has been too soft to get some crops planted.

“I’m not liking it one bit,” O’Malia said of recent rainfall. “I have crops that need to be planted, like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower — tomatoes, too.”

O’Malia said the ground on his farm has been so saturated that his tractors keep getting stuck.

“We’ll be okay if from this point on we have a bit of a dry spell,” he said.

Theodore Champney, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York, said June was the 12th wettest June since 1901.

“There was 6.52 inches of rainfall in June,” Champney said. “That’s about 2.5 inches above normal.”

Champney said the forecast predicts July will warm up and dry out.

“We expect it to be close to normal,” he said.

Champney said the region is still in a mild drought. He said there were only 1.72 inches of rainfall in May.

O’Malia said for every zucchini he has harvested, he has had to throw one away. He said too much water has caused water blisters on much of his crop. O’Malia said he isn’t the only farmer experiencing problems from the rainfall.

“I know a dairy farmer who hasn’t been able to cut hay because it’s been too wet,” O’Malia said.

O’Malia said he has been frustrated, but it could be worse.

“I’m happy the Susquehanna isn’t on my farm,” he said, referring to the nearby river.

Looking at O’Malia’s display Thursday at the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market, you wouldn’t think there were any problems.

“Our stuff looks beautiful,” he said. “But we need some warmer weather for the corn, tomatoes and peppers.”

Next to O’Malia’s stand is Broyan’s Farm of Nescopeck, Albert Broyan said he hasn’t had any problems with the rain.

“It been coming exactly when we have needed it,” Broyan said.

Broyan said his farm is not close to the river so he doesn’t experience the over-saturation of his soil.

“So far, so good,” Broyan said.

Norm Darling has a farm along the river in Plains and another in Dallas. He said he’s a little behind on some planting.

“There are a few things that should be in now,” he said. “But the rain has helped our crops. We’re ahead of a lot of other farmers.”

Darling said he has had to wait to get another corn field planted and he won’t have tomatoes until the end of July.

“The crops we have are really high quality,” he said. “And the cool nights we’ve been having have helped too.”

Reach Bill O’Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.