A look of resignation creased the face of Elliott Lengel Friday morning.

It was a look that can only come from a lifetime of farming, bringing with it the recognition that some years just turn out bad.

This is one of those years.

Lengel and his brothers, David and Gary, operate a dairy farm at 1346 Mercer-Grove City Road in Findley Township that has been in the family since their father Robert and uncle Albert started it in the 1960s.

And they are among scores of Mercer County farmers who have suffered some form of damage this summer from a seemingly never-ending swath of severe storms that caused flooding and structural damage.

"I don't think the true damage is going to be known until the end of the year," said Elliott Lengel, 43. "Like my dad said more than one time: 'You don't count on anything until the last bushel is off the field and stored or sold.' And that's still three months away."

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