TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Farmers and ranchers in southeastern Arizona are smiling over generally generous and gentle rains so far this summer. Their counterparts in other sections of the state are either still optimistic or satisfied with drier conditions.

The monsoon season, which officially started June 15, has been wetter than normal from Douglas to the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

That's meant better conditions for farmers and livestock growers in some areas.

"It's been pretty good," said Jim Graham, who grows pistachios and wine grapes southwest of Willcox. "In the last 10 years our monsoon has been kind of weak, and this year we've had some good rains."

Unlike short-burst gullywashers that end up creating heavy runoff and fail to help much as far as watering crops, Graham said, this year's rains have provided adequate moisture in the soil and allowed farmers to turn off irrigation pumps at times.

He said he's measured between 6 and 8 inches of rainfall. "We have smiles on our faces because we like having good moisture," he said.

Danny Tingle, who farms about 800 acres between Cochise and Sunizona, said this year's monsoons have been great. "Any rain is good," he said, but this year's have been more gentle than last year.

Nogales, on the Mexican border, had received 8.8 inches of rain from mid-June through Sunday versus its normal 5.29 inches. Another border city, Douglas, measured 5.14 inches of rain during the same period, more than an inch above its 4.01-inch normal.

Other monsoon totals included Willcox, 4.05 inches versus 3 inches normally; Tucson, 3.63 inches versus 2.55 inches and Picacho Peak, 2.08 inches versus 1.11 inches normally.

The highest monsoon rainfall measured in southern Arizona this season has been 10.67 inches on the nearly 7,000-foot Kitt Peak, about 35 miles southwest of Tucson, said Steven Reedy, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

In northern Arizona, rancher Gary Mortimer is among the once-optimistic and still-hopeful. He said his ranch 30 miles east of Prescott has gotten about 2.3 inches of rain, and that his land got regular rain between July 4 and mid-July.

"Then it pretty well stopped at our ranch." But he said it looked promising for more rain as the week began.

He said the rain that has fallen has been beneficial for his hay operation, coming at an opportune time and providing dry spells sufficient for cutting and baling the hay without the finished product getting wet.

In Yuma, farmer John Boelts, president of the Yuma County Farm Bureau, said rain can be more of a challenge for farmers who rely on irrigation water from the Colorado River to efficiently schedule their crops.

"It does hamper schedules, especially with forage crops," such as alfalfa, and with cotton that has been defoliated and can degrade in the field before being picked if it is dampened by rain, he said.

Yuma normally receives only about 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain a year.

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