WATERVILLE (AP) — Maine farmers are struggling to harvest their hay because of June’s wet weather.

Monmouth farmer Andy Baker has harvested about 1,300 bales this summer. Normally he’d have more than 7,000 bales by now.

Baker and other farmers tell the Morning Sentinel (http://bit.ly/165ckQP) that the consistent rainfall in June and early July prevented them from harvesting their hay, while lowering the quality.

The National Weather Service said Augusta had nearly 8 inches of rain in June, making it the fourth-wettest June in 65 years of record-keeping.

“Usually I’m all done (with the) first cut by the first week in July, and I haven’t hardly got started,” Baker said.

Hay farming is big business in Maine.

In 2011, farmers harvested 258,000 tons of hay from 132,000 acres of land, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The crop was valued at nearly $40 million.

But because of the rainy conditions, some farmers couldn’t bring their machinery into their wet fields for all of June and called it one of the worst hay seasons they could remember. And while farmers wait for the hay to dry enough to cut and bale, the quality declines.

Logan Johnston, of Oaklands Farm in Gardiner, said he usually completes his first hay cutting by July 4, but he still hasn’t finished and might not bother. Instead, he’s hoping for a productive second cutting in August.

“We could have perfect weather from here on out. We may have a terrific second cutting,” he said. “I just have no idea.”