Soybean farmer Earl Hambly is just getting his soybean crop out of the fields. (CBC)

Soybean farmers on Prince Edward Island are harvesting their crop nearly two months behind schedule because there was so much rain this past fall.

Earl Hambly, a soybean grower in Brackley, said he's just getting his crop in because the rain began in mid-October and didn't stop long enough to do the work. The harvest usually happens in late September and October.

"This week and these days — cold, dry days — it's really good for the harvest," he said Thursday.

For many farmers, soybeans are a cash crop that helps pay the bills in between potato rotations. They can earn a big premium for growing high-quality soybeans that can be made into food, like tofu.

This year, more than 4,000 hectares on P.E.I. were planted with food crops. But most of that crop didn't make the grade because the beans were just too wet.

As a result, soybean growers took a collective loss of more than $1 million.

"I didn't have a whole lotta acres in, so it's not gonna make that much difference to me," Hambly said, "But anybody that grew a lot of acres, it will make a pile a difference to them."

Doon Paulie, of the Department of Agriculture, said soybeans have become an important crop for P.E.I. farmers, with production more than doubling in the last two years to 17,000 hectares. That includes 13,000 hectares of soybeans planted to feed animals.

Despite the setback this season, he said, that number will likely expand again next year.

"Soybean prices are fairly strong, so I think it's still relatively positive," Paulie said. "So, even with the added costs of drying the crop down, it's not a doom and gloom situation. There's still opportunities there."

The company that contracts Island growers for food grade soybeans says it's working on the problem of the unpredictable weather in Atlantic Canada.

It's testing new breeds of soybeans that will better withstand all types of conditions. They should be ready in the next two to three years.