ALBANY - Growers across the Southeast are facing a problem they can't control. <br>
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Their pecan harvest is poor after two months of unusually heavy rain. <br>
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After months of drought, growers welcomed the rain in September, but now it's driving them nuts. <br>
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Farmer Frank Richter found his pecan kernels were spongy, shriveled or blackened by plant disease. <br>
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Richter says the pecans are sitting out in the fields rotting. <br>
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He says the heavy equipment used to shake the trees and scoop up the nuts can NOT make it through the mud. <br>
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If the pecans aren't picked at the right time, they start to shrivel. <br>
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September and October are usually among Georgia's driest months and that typically provides ideal conditions for harvesting the state's 100 million (M) dollar pecan crop. <br>
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This fall is different. <br>
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The combination of excessive moisture and warm weather is beginning to show up in the Agriculture Department's crop reports. <br>
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