Area farmers dealing with saturated fields

CHILLICOTHE – In early June, farmers were wishing for rain after seeing “pretty much drought conditions,” but in the past couple of weeks, they might have gotten more than they bargained for.

Farmers locally and across the state have been dealing with soggy soil and standing water in their fields, which is cause for concern for those still growing and those attempting to harvest.

Steve Hirsch, owner of Hirsch Fruit Farms, said the amount of rain Ross County has seen in the past few weeks has made it difficult for him to harvest his fruit. No one wants to pick in the rain, Hirsch said, and it is unsafe in stormy conditions. His fields have become too muddy to do much of anything in, including planting for next season.

“I don’t know if we’re better off or worse,” Hirsch said. “There’s rain everywhere in Ohio, and it’s not helping us right now.”

Workers at Welch Farms are dealing with a similar struggle with their fruit farm.

“We’re already in planting for next year, but we’re already behind,” said Christie Welch, owner of Welch Farms.

Welsh said she is supposed to be in the process of cleaning up her strawberry crop beds, but because of all the rain, she is three weeks behind in prep work. Luckily for Welsh, she is not set to plant until September, so the rain has, so far, not affected her crops, she added.

“Every farmer has a problem with too much water right now,” Hirsch said. “It really depends on where you’re at and how much rain you got.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Ohio Crop Weather report for the week ending June 28 reported that there were only 1.3 days “suitable for fieldwork.”

Fields that have too much water are at risk for disease, weed growth, and possible yield losses because farmers are not able to spray or fertilize them, said Chris Bruynis, Ohio State University Extension educator for agriculture and natural resources in the county.

Local farmer Scott Metzger said soybeans are struggling most. At this point, the corn has generally grown high enough to handle the amount of rain, but area farmers are finding it difficult to keep soybean fields sprayed. Metzger said it is putting “some stress” on the beans, and Bruynis said it is causing the beans to turn yellow.

Only 7 percent of corn and soybeans are in “excellent” condition, according to the Ohio Crop Weather report, with 79 percent of corn and 77 percent of soybeans in “good” or “fair” condition. The report says the rate of soybeans emerged is nearly 10 percent below the five-year average for June 28.

“It’s not an ideal situation for farmers right now; certain areas of the state are worse than others. We need a lot more days like (Wednesday) in a row,” Hirsch said.

Metzger said the fields likely to be the most affected are near the river, but the crops suffering the most from all the excess moisture are wheat and hay.

Metzger said the large amount of rain has caused a deterioration in the quality of the wheat crop this year. It is best for the wheat and hay to be dry when harvested, and the soggy conditions have made it difficult for farmers such as Metzger to get their cuttings in before more rain comes.

Metzger said he has about 450 acres of wheat across Ross and Pickaway counties, but as of Thursday afternoon, he had only about 80 acres left to harvest.

Whereas Meztger said the conditions across the Corn Belt are “far from perfect,” Bruynis said the area is fortunate.

“There are some areas that never got planted. ... Having nothing would be worse,” he said.