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Sanilac crop farmers aren't too worried yet, but they are keeping an anxious eye on the sky, hoping Mother Nature will send more rain.

"We appreciated the little we got, but we're praying for more," said crop farmer Cathy Knoerr of Sandusky. "We really do need a soaker."

It's getting to a crucial time, with dry beans and soybeans starting to blossom.

"And the corn needs to get even," Knoerr said. "It's up and down because of the wet and cold weather and it hasn't recovered."

On the other hand Tom Wadsworth, another Sandusky crop farmer, thinks things aren't looking too bad.

"The dry beans are a little behind, but the sugar beets and corn are all right. That little bit of rain helped a lot," he said.

Martin Nagelkirk of the Michigan State University Extension Service, said those two assessments may sum up the situation across Sanilac County.

"It's been a bit sporadic," he said. "There are parts of the county that got one to two inches in the last two weeks, but the majority of the county has not. Sandusky airport reported three-tenths and none a week ago. More rainfall would be appreciated."

"The sugar beet crop still looks good with a little wilting, but the growing has slowed down. The growth will recover quickly if the crop gets water later," stated Keith Kalso of Michigan Sugar in Croswell.

"It was dry for the month of June. It is two inches behind last year's total of 3.3 inches...That could pose a problem if it continues," he added.

"Everything is under stress. There's no doubt about it," Knoerr said.

Clearly the overriding concern for farmers has been the lack of rainfall during a period when it usually is plentiful.

"Now we'll be going into what is historically a dry period, with a pretty significant deficit already this season," Nagelkirk said.

The dry spell has a boon to hay farmers. Since dry weather is ideal for a first cutting, yield and quality were excellent this spring, he said.

However the second cutting is struggling with the drought and, while the quality will be fine, the yield may be lower.

"For most, clearly the overriding concern has been the lack of rainfall," Nagelkirk said.

"I think overall we're doing okay. But meteorology has to help out."

A bright spot in the scenario is that crop prices are up across the board, thanks to increased world demand, said Bob Howard, a merchandiser at Michigan Agricultural Commodities, Marlette.

"The world supply has jumped and the southern crop is down," he said.

Current cash prices expected:

Soft red winter wheat cash price: $5 and soft white winter wheat cash price: $5.60 per bushel, both up about $1.50 from 2006;

Ethanol demand has pushed the corn cash price to $3.15, from $2.11 a year ago;

Soybean cash price is $7.91, compared to $5.44 a year ago, due to decreased acreage. More farmers are planting corn, Howard said.

He added, however, that farmers' other expenses also have increased, especially for gas.

Sugar beet prices are also good.

"Prices are up for beet pulp and molasses, which is a reflection of corn prices because dairy farmers switch from feeding corn to pressed beet pulp," Kalso explained.