A federal emergency declaration for drought in Ohio is the worst in decades, according to farmers on the ground and climate scientists.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated 22 Ohio counties as natural disaster areas Tuesday because of the drought. The department's Farm Service Agency will allow farmers in 22 counties and 18 neighboring counties to apply for emergency loans from the federal government.
The counties listed in the natural disaster declaration include:
- Athens
- Belmont
- Fairfield
- Fayette
- Gallia
- Guernsey
- Harrison
- Highland
- Hocking
- Jackson
- Jefferson
- Madison
- Monroe
- Morgan
- Muskingum
- Noble
- Perry
- Pickaway
- Pike
- Ross
- Vinton
- Washington
The USDA said these counties have had eight or more consecutive weeks of severe drought. Athens and Meigs counties are listed with the most severe drought conditions of the 22 counties.
State climatologist says drought is worst in decades.
The last time a drought this severe was declared in Ohio dates back to at least the 20th century.
State climatologist Aaron Wilson with the State Climate Office of Ohio at Ohio State University said the current conditions were categorized as a D4-level drought, the most severe by the USDA Drought Monitor. That monitor was launched in 2000 and a drought of this magnitude has not been declared in Ohio since then.
"The economic issues will be assessed usually following the drought, but it historically will rank as one of the worst droughts in Ohio's history," Wilson said.
Droughts are ranked from D-0 to D-4 on the drought monitor's scale. Parts of this drought are rated D-4 through southeast Ohio.
Wilson said the last time the Farm Service Agency declared a drought in Ohio was in 2012, but the conditions were not this severe. He said his office and the Ohio State University extension office have been organizing resources anticipating a drought at a level D-2 or D-3.
"A D-1 drought would happen about once every five to 10 years. Exceptional drought (or D-4 droughts) are the top of the list that only happens once every 50 to 100 years," Wilson said.
The current conditions track back to the extreme heat in June that happened in some parts of the state.
Wilson said he expects you would have to go back to 1988 during a severe heat wave to find a drought this severe.
Anecdotal evidence has been gathered this year, like springs running dry in Morgan County and the extremely low levels of the Hocking River in Athens, which is at its lowest level since 1930 and its second-lowest flow rate since that year.
Wilson said he doesn't expect the dry conditions to let up anytime soon.
"We're going into the time of the year where you see less rainfall. October is a fairly dry month for Ohio," Wilson said. "If you look at the next six to 14 days, we're leaning toward likely drier than average conditions over the next couple of weeks."
Ross County farmer says springs and ponds have run dry, drought is causing early harvest.
Greg Corcoran owns 5,000 acres of farmland across southeast Ohio, primarily in Ross County just off State Route 50. He grows grain crops like corn and soybeans, but also raises cattle and grows hay to feed them.
Corcoran said he is already feeding hay to his cattle two to three months earlier than he normally starts going into his winter reserves because the pastures have run dry.
Corcoran also said he has to haul water up to the cows for the first time in 39 years of living on his farm because natural springs and retention ponds on his property have run dry.
"There is no water. It's gone. There's no spring, it's run dry. The ponds are empty. So we're hauling water out to that cattle, which is about a 10 to 15 minute drive, just to get water out there on a daily basis," Corcoran said.
Corcoran's crops are also not doing well and he said corn is starting to cannibalize itself, as it lacks nutrients from water sources. He said he started harvesting this week, about 20 days ahead of schedule.
"Yields are probably the lowest yields I've ever seen since I've come back to farming and I've been back for about 15 years," Corcoran said.
Corcoran said other areas of Ohio are getting rain, but that is not coming to his area. He said his farm is in the heart of two bands of drought in Ross County published on the USDA's drought monitor.
"I didn't get the rains, I continue to not get the rains. I know Pike County got a couple of rains as of late. But Ross County, at least we completely missed those, so we're continuing to see severe drought conditions," Corcoran said.
All of this compounding together means higher costs for his farm and others like him in the region.
"It's kind of a double whammy where, not only do I have to start feeding because the pasture is not there. Well, I don't have the hay, because there was such a deficit of rain," Corcoran said.
Corcoran said if you go north of Columbus, it's a much different story.
"You start going north and north of Columbus. It's almost the opposite. They've gotten the rains, they've got what they need," Corcoran said.
Drought declaration makes aid available to affected farmers.
Jack Irvin, vice president of policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, said what Corcoran is experiencing isn't unique amongst farmers with land in this drought.
Irvin said corn and soybean producers are seeing a dramatic loss in crop yield. He said the aid will be welcome and used for a variety of purposes.
"You can use that for equipment, reorganization, organizing your farm, helping to maybe manage some of your debts. For people struggling with purchasing hay and hauling water, that's expensive," Irvin said.
Irvin said with the aid available to 22 counties in the drought declaration and another 16 that neighbor those counties, almost half of Ohio is covered.
The neighboring counties who are also eligible are Adams, Brown, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Franklin, Greene, Lawrence, Licking, Meigs, Scioto, Tuscarawas, and Union counties.
"There's a lot of agriculture in south central and southeast Ohio from significant size, what we call row crop producers, that are growing corn and soybeans and wheat. Maybe folks just raising a couple of cattle on a small farm," Irvin said.
Irvin said people wishing to receive some aid from this declaration should get to know their county's USDA office. He said those offices will be the primary entities that help deliver and share information on available resources.
"I have been working in this government relations space and working with farmers for many, many years. And for me personally, I actually have never dealt with this significant of a drought, in terms of helping identify resources," Irvin said.
Corcoran said he and other farmers have already reached out and plan to apply for the aid.
Corcoran said farmers often plan on having good years and bad years, and that this year just turned out to be a bad one.
According to Corcoran, "I states," like Iowa and Illinois, which produce the most grain crops in the nation, are having a very good year by comparison, so there isn't a huge impact expected nationally.
Considering the long term impact, Corcoran said he thinks the region's farmers will be okay with aid and crop insurance to hold them over.
"We really depend on Mother Nature to supply for us. That didn't happen this year," he said.
