Updated at: 07/30/2010 4:37 PM | KSAX.com

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Area Farmers Hit Hard by Severe Weather

LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. - Hundreds of acres of crops were left devastated after the string of severe weather tore through greater Minnesota

"Golf ball sized hail, and it lasted for like a half hour," Long Prairie Farmers Diane and Bob Gustafson explained in front of their destroyed crops. "It did a lot of damage to the corn and the beans."

The weeks of recent severe weather have taken a major toll on farming communities in greater Minnesota.

"We've got some neighbors really close to here that farm probably five or six hundred acres and theirs is a total loss." Rodney McCartney who leases farm land said.

The Gustafsons and the McCartneys are just a few of the people in the area who were left devastated by the high winds and hail that came through the area.

Even though the hundreds of acres are a complete loss, the farmer's mentality has not been forgotten in Long Prairie.

"We will plant again next year," the Gustafsons said with a smile. "I will have flowers again next year, we will repair the paint or whatever we need to do."

"The farmer's saying is 'next year'," Rodney explained. "There is always next year, that's about all you can do."

Written for the web by Tony Seeman

aseeman@ksax.com