DANBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The recent dry weather is giving Michigan farmers an early start on harvesting corn and soybeans.

Sandborn Farms near Portland is already making progress on the soybean crop and has corn that is ready for harvest.

“This year is much ahead of normal, We’re well over half done with our soybeans and it’s the first week of October. Usually that’s mid-October. We’re probably at least two weeks ahead of normal,” farmer Jeff Sandborn told News 8 Thursday.

He said the weather this year has been prime for soybeans and corn.

“We’ve had just enough water to satisfy the crop at just the right time,” Sandborn said. “If we don’t have to play in the mud and the rain, it’s very beneficial. Like last year during October, I don’t think I harvested for a week. We sat until November, basically, because it kept raining. This year, just the fields are dry, so we’re not running in mud.”

Sandborn said his crop yield is above average, though it had the potential to be even better if there had been a little more rain.

“When the rain shut down in late August, that final push in yields, that filling and making the beans bigger, the corn heavier, just didn’t happen,” Sandborn said.

The corn crop is looking strong across the state, according to Theresa Sisung, a Michigan Farm Bureau industry relations specialist.

“(The U.S. Department of Agriculture) is predicting a record corn yield here in Michigan and a lot of that has to do with we got timely rains over the summer,” Sisung said.

The ample supply of corn keeps prices low, which could have an impact on some products.

“It will be a little further down the line where they would maybe see some price impacts: not in the sweet corn that they buy, not in the canned corn that they’re gonna buy for Thanksgiving, but in the products (like livestock feed) — so potentially meat prices with cheaper feed,” Sisung said.

Farmers are optimistic the weather will keep them ahead of the game.

“The goal of most farmers is to be done by mid-November. I think that will happen this year, no problem,” Sandborn said.