Farmers cope with drought

With a serious lack of rain and statewide drought conditions, Ohio farmers are facing challenges tending to their crops. While forecasts predict precipitation on Sunday, which would break the long span of dry conditions, those involved in local agriculture have had to seek other ways to sustain their produce. Farmers interviewed by Ohio Ogden Newspapers said that they had to make adjustments during the dry spell, but most said they were not overly concerned. How bad is the drought? As of Friday, the United States Drought Monitor listed much of northwest Ohio as a "D1" on the drought scale, which means there is "moderate drought." The least severe listing is "D0," which indicates "abnormally dry," and the most severe is "D4," indicating "exceptional drought." According to the Drought Monitor, moderate drought is hard on landscaping, and hay and fruit yields are low. Brush fires can begin to occur. Forecasts for much of northwest Ohio show a significant chance of rainfall on Sunday. 'No sense of worrying' Marc Ruggles, who farms in Monroeville, Norwalk and Berlin Heights, said to relax. After all, there's nothing anyone can do to make the rains fall. "The problem is, we have gotten the crops in, and we just need the rain to get it going," Ruggles said. "The corn is all up but the beans are waiting for the rain. "We have more dry days (in a row) than we had in 1988. In 1988, it was 19 days without rain and now it is 20. This is like July ... we really have not had dry weather this early. "No sense of worrying about it ... that's Mother Nature." Ruggles said that predictions of rain for this weekend will help. "I don't know if we are going to get back to normal ... it would be a million-dollar rain. Give the crops a kickstart," he said. "It's just not Huron County — all of Ohio, Indiana and the Midwest. "Worrying is not going to do anything about it. It will rain. We have never had a crop failure. It has never been this dry, this early, that I can remember. In 1988, it started raining about the Fourth of July and that saved the crop." Ruggles pointed out it was mild all winter, noting there was two inches of rain in April and an inch and a half in May and nothing in June. There isn't much Ruggles hasn't seen. "Farming all my life," the 53-year-old said. "My farm has been in our family since 1830. Our kids are the ninth generation on the farm. All the kids help us out. Nevan is farming full time." 'Expect good weather 20% of the time' An Erie County farmer said the span of dry weather was nothing terribly out of the ordinary. "Extreme weather patterns are not uncommon. We have a plan for every weather event, and we always follow tried-and-true methods to get us through," said Bob Jones, a regenerative farmer at the Chef's Garden in Milan Township. "We expect good weather 20% of the time." Currently, the Chef's Garden and other farmers have been increasing their irrigation of crops to make up the shortfall for the lack of rain and to ensure business doesn't slow down. Farmers seeking guidance on how to persevere through tough climate conditions have resources they can turn to including the farm bureaus in Ottawa, Huron and Erie counties. These local organizations provide education and resources to help promote "healthy and sustainable agriculture." Amanda Denes-Diedrick, the organization director for Erie, Huron and Lorain counties, said that county farm bureaus play a major role in providing the necessary resources farmers need to make it through the season. "I assist county groups and help develop and implement programs that strengthen their organizations and affect positive change in their communities," Denes-Diedrick said. If calls to the farm bureaus are any indication, area farmers appear to be coping well enough with the dry conditions for the time being. "We haven't had any farmers reach out to us," said Kayla Richards, organization director of Ottawa County's farm bureau. "They have been able to figure it out with the methods that they have." Jones said they receive water for irrigation from Northern Ohio Rural Water and Erie County Water. However, if farmers don't receive rain sometime in the coming week, farmers will have to reduce the number of crops produced. "When we have to irrigate for longer periods of time, it greatly increases the labor cost," Jones said. Praying for relief Clint Lease, who works at Seneca Conservation District and farms in Seneca County's Eden Township, said the lack of rain is "absolutely" a concern. He said most of the soybeans where he farms have been planted within the last few weeks, and there has been no rain to provide moisture for germination. "There's no moisture for the seeds to start," he said. Crops that were planted earlier and had begun to grow have stopped growing, he said. "They're kind of like standing there holding their own," he said. It's not too bad yet, but it will get worse if it doesn't rain soon. Like the rest of farmers in northwest Ohio, Lease is looking at Sunday's weather forecast and hoping it's correct. About a half-inch of rain is expected. "It wouldn't be a huge help, but that's better than nothing," he said. "If we get rain Sunday, it might take a week or so to see what effect it had on the plants." In the meantime, farmers will continue to pray for rain.