It's a fight against the clock and mother nature. The next few weeks may mean long hours, long lines, and lots of catching up for area farmers.  

Long waits have become the norm at the grain elevators in Hinton, IA.  

"It wasn't bad at first, but now there's going to be quite a line up. And it's gonna get worse probably for the next three weeks." says Craig Thoreson, a farmer from Hinton. 

Conditions this spring and summer were near perfect for growing. An extremely wet fall has pushed the harvest back about 3 or 4 weeks. It's a race to the finish line; to bring in a bumper crop before time runs out.

"Everybody's in the same boat. Everybody's just working hard, lotta hours. And that's the nature of the beast. That's what we do." says Farmer Jeff Udell

Farmer's Coop has extended hours to help keep up with demand. At this pace, it may be Christmas till all the crop comes in.

"We'll probably be eating a turkey leg in the truck on Thanksgiving Day!" says Dell.

"You never know what, in November what's going to happen. We might have a snowstorm. We might be out in the field till January." says Thoreson.

Farmers must now play the guessing game. Judging whether to wait and let things dry on their own, or take a hit in profit and let the grain elevators dry do the work.

In the next few weeks, farmers are hoping for more warm and breezy days to help things dry things out.