SKANDIA -- For Friday's Facebook Story of the Day, you wanted to know how U.P. farmers are faring. What's it like to make a living in that field?

Chuck Bergdahl's farm in Skandia produces a truckload of dairy each day. But lately, he's been milking the budget just to make ends meet.

"It's not easy," Bergdahl said.

"You can go to the casino and gamble, and you're probably better off."

And taking a risk is what farmers across the U.P. do, starting with mother nature. One of the most important things for farmers is to have really good soil, and with the mild winter that we've had, the soil on Bergdahl's farm is dry, which makes it difficult for crops like corn and hay to sustain. Nearly 250 cows at the farm depend on it.

"That's what they live on, we need corn, we need grain, and we need hay. If we don't have those, the cows don't do too good," Bergdahl said.

On Facebook, Sue Radloff wrote, "Farming is a tough, risky business. Huge investment of time and money without knowing if you'll be able to sustain your life from year to year."

With gas prices at $4 per gallon, farmers are spending more than producing. Bergdahl said it costs nearly $400 to fill up a big tractor and another $400 to plant just one acre of corn. His dairy farm has five hundred of them. For fertilizer, he dishes out an extra $800 per ton.

"We're a lot more sensitive of how we use it, how much we use, and we take soil tests and make sure that we don't put extra on because it's expensive," Bergdahl said.

With the weather being the biggest factor, farmers are now taking a gamble on whether or not there will be enough rain in the season. And although they can start planting sooner, one night of frost can ruin an entire crop.