The delayed corn harvest is causing more than just frustration to farmers; it's having an affect on the local ethanol industry as well. 

The ethanol plant in Mina will temporarily go off line as soon as it runs out of corn and that could happen soon. The plant gets the majority of its corn from the North Central Farmers Elevator of Ipswich. 

"We anticipate the yields are going to be outstanding. Some of the early results at this point have been just exceptional," North Central Farmers Elevator general manager Keith Hainy said. 

The problem is, that corn is still sitting in the fields and in a lot of water. Typically this time of the year, Hainy would expect farmers to be harvesting and the elevator to be delivering at least a hundred truckloads of corn a day to the ethanol plant. 

"We're still delivering a little bit but we're just cleaning the bottom of the bins out," Hainy said. 

The plant can produce more than 100 million gallons of ethanol a year. While it's slowed production to a rate of 80 to 90 million gallons a year, it's sitting with next to no corn. 

It’s had enough coming in to stay open for now but they expect to run out tomorrow. And the plant’s big supplier says he doesn't think he'll be able to send much more its way for at least a week. 

Hainy expects harvest to begin some time next week, but he doesn't know for sure when the elevator will be able to send it usual hundred trucks a day to Mina. 

"Well if we knew what the weather was going to do, I could probably give you that answer," Hainy said. 

His estimate, though, is that it will happen by the end of next week. Officials from the plant anticipate it will take at least seven to ten days. Now it's just a matter of waiting to see what Mother Nature has in mind. 

Officials from Glacial Lakes Energy say this plant is hit especially hard by the shortage because of its size and going through so much corn a day. It had been shipping in corn from out of the area but high fuel cost didn't make that feasible.