BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) - It's harvest time at Old Settlers Farm near Denmark.

"We usually don't start until the later part of September," farmer Dave Schlies said.

But this year, Schleis is already almost done cutting his corn.

"The quality is excellent," he explained. "We've had a little shorter stock this year, but the ears are filled out."

Experts said that's surprising, given the dry, drought-like conditions in early summer.

"That rain we got in the middle of July, right around Farm Technology Days, was just manna from above," Mark Hagedorn, Brown County Ag Agent, said.

Hagedorn said the area should see a corn crop average, to slightly above average this year. But, unfortunately, that's not the case everywhere.

According to new numbers from the USDA, 36% of Wisconsin's corn crop is rated poor, or very poor.

"If we head down into the southern part of the state, it's definitely below average to almost disaster level," said Hagedorn.

He said southern Wisconsin didn't see the rain this region did, and that's made all the difference.

"North of the Calumet County line some people even have excess feed inventory at this stage of the game which is a really good thing," added Hagedorn.

"Somebody had to be looking over us and sent rain because it couldn't have happened at a better time," said Schlies.

Even further south, Hagedorn said corn crops in Iowa, Indiana and Illinois are also suffering.