Agriculture producers across Montana received welcome precipitation over the weekend, with many areas seeing between a half-inch to an inch and a half of moisture.
"It all depends on how the rain event comes," said Robert Welker, owner of Welker Farms near Shelby.
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Before this weekend's rainfall, Welker told MTN that the dry conditions have been persistent in the region.
"We've pretty much been in a continual dry, dry cycle for the last good three years. This is probably going on the fourth," Welker said.
Much of north central Montana has slipped into moderate, severe, and extreme drought conditions in recent weeks according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
"Those shallow rains really don't add up to producing a crop for the coming season, the harvest season. You need to have essentially a rain event," Welker said.
And that rain came just in time.
Following the weekend precipitation, Welker noted the widespread rainfall was beneficial enough to penetrate the dry soil and help fill the wheat kernels.
"This rain in the last two weeks is going to allow those kernels to fill. Now there has the potential of it filling and having some decent weight," Welker said.
However, the much-needed moisture doesn't mean that farmers are out of the woods just yet.
"The drought definitely damages the crops. So, yes, the rain was very beneficial to the crop. It's not going to bring us an average crop, but it will bring us up a number of bushels from what it wouldn't have occurred," Welker said.
Despite the mixed outlook, Welker and other producers in the area remain cautiously optimistic.
With time left in the growing season and more dry weather in the forecast, the rain gave producers a fighting chance.
"It's a blessing. Any time you get rain in this country, it's kind of hard to complain," Welker said.
In addition to rain, the weekend storms dropped snow at higher elevations in some parts of Montana:
