HICKMAN, KY - Farmers make a mad dash to harvest their crops before the rising rivers take what they don't.  Record rainfall last month may have been a nuisance for a few of us, but for some farmers it's becoming a disaster.  Even with sunny skies Monday the Mississippi River continued to rise and threaten to wipe out entire fields.

Soybean farmers in Hickman, Kentucky raced to cut what crops they could on what may be their last day to harvest.  The Mississippi is expected to crest on Thursday, but in the area known as Upper Bottom, many fields and roads are already flooded.

The problem is even more complicated than it may seem.  It would be one thing to just save all the crops before the river rises, but a lot of soybean plants aren't ready to be cut, and trying too soon can damage the equipment.  What's more, the roads leading to and from the fields are flooding fast, so it's a matter of save what you can, then get out while you still can.

Several farmers are struggling to cut their own soybean crop before it's too late, but when he heard how bad Paul Williams' fields were, he came to help.  "We have neighbors," Williams said, "They couldn't cut theirs, so they brought their combines and their trucks, their people, and they've come up to help us cut beans to try to get us out of a hard place, but that's a neighbor."

Williams has already lost many of his crops, and in an effort to save some still too young and too tough to cut, he's trying not to lose his equipment too.  If that weren't bad enough, the beating the equipment is taking now is nothing compared to what will happen if they wait too long to get to higher ground.  The rush leaves little time for reflection, but soybean farmer Shaun Parks can't help but consider what's at stake.  "You think about all the time that was put in on planting the crop.  Somebody had to get paid to run the equipment, diesel fuel that got burned, cost of the seed, cost of the chemical to keep it sprayed, and now nothing," Parks said.

Farmers say their crop insurance is unlikely to cover their costs, so every plant they can save and every minute they can work is well worth the effort.  Many are selling their beans at lower prices than usual because they have too much moisture in them.