Ohio’s farmers facing historic drought of 2024

By Matt Reese

Hopes for a bountiful harvest in 2024 are drying up for many southern and eastern Ohio crop producers who are facing the worst drought conditions in decades.

Pickaway County is among the driest parts of the state, and has been since last spring, according to Ross Black who raises corn, soybeans and wheat with his family near Ashville in the northern part of the county.

“In March, I was strip-tilling ground — I remember this clearly — I had dust and it was dry and it froze the night before. We had a conversation here on the farm back then about how it was really setting up to be a dry year. We were very nervous about our moves we made throughout the spring, wanting to do as many things right as possible to preserve the moisture we had. Seasonally, here in Ohio, March and April are pretty wet months and when we were out doing field work and it was dry, it started to raise the eyebrows.… Continue reading