Christopher Cicchiello reports in the Times Union that the relentless rain this past week throughout the Hudson Valley may mean a smaller crop for farmers. “I could foresee up to like 50 percent less [of a total yield] than last year, that is a possibility” Pat Lang, head of farm production at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, said. “It’s hard to predict … And certainly if it continues — and they are expecting a lot of wet weather this week — through next week or the week after that, then none of what I’m saying would be an exaggeration. I think it’s a very, very real effect.” The National Weather Service in Albany reports between three and five inches of rain for much of the Hudson Valley in the past week. And that larger rainfall is not just this year. Climate data from the Northeast Regional Climate Center reports that annual rainfall locally is steadily climbing, with an average of 9.1 more inches of rain in 2010 than in 1957. Branchwater Farms in Milan in Dutchess County lost 25 acres of wheat and rye crop to strong storm winds and hail last week. Luke Franco of Tiny Hearts Farm in Copake, in Columbia County is waiting for the rain to stop. “I think we’ll see in 4 to 6 weeks that a lot of farms might start to have gaps in their production," Franco said. "This is a pause button. You can’t plant or seed or whatever. If we totally miss this window, that means weeks from now we’ll have empty spots where we’ll normally have a crop.... Maybe it’ll stop raining? Some years you get a super wet year, some years you get a super dry year. We’re just waiting for our Goldilocks year.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.