Drought took its toll on growers, committee told

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The finance committee of the Ohio House of Representatives heard proponent testimony last week on a bill that would provide financial relief for counties that were hit by drought conditions this past growing season.
House Bill 638 provides supplemental general revenue funding of $10 million in fiscal 2025 for the Ohio Department of Agriculture to support the state’s 88 water and sewer conservation districts.
Those offering testimony described a grim scenario facing many growers throughout much of the state.
Representative Don Jones, a co-sponsor of the bill, told the committee he’s traveled throughout the state and heard from many farmers
“The stories are endless, paying as much as $80 a bale for hay, being forced to sell off large numbers of livestock and struggling to make ends meet,” he said. “The drought is an ongoing issue that will not be fixed over the winter. Hay fields will need to be reseeded and hay yields will be down significantly next year. By doing this bill now, we can provide immediate relief to farmers as they prepare to ramp up for next season.”
Drought conditions started in Ohio in mid-June and intensified throughout the summer until some relief came with rain showers at the end of September and early October. Drier conditions then returned, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture report.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, 49 counties were designated as primary disaster counties with another 17 counties classified as contiguous.
The counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of:
-D2 Drought severe for eight or more consecutive weeks, or
-D3 Drought extreme
-D4 Drought exceptional
As of Oct.15 the following counties have been designated:
Primary counties: Adams, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Clinton, Coshocton, Defiance, Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Gallia, Guernsey,
Greene, Hamilton, Harrison, Henry, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Licking, Logan, Lucas, Madison, Meigs, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Tuscarawas, Union, Vinton, Warren, Washington, and Williams.
Contiguous counties: Auglaize, Columbiana, Darke, Hancock, Hardin, Holmes, Knox, Marion, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Preble, Putnam, Scioto, Shelby, Stark, and Wood.
Elizabeth Harsh, executive director of the Ohio Cattlemen’s Association, told the committee that by August her family’s farm ponds were reduced to levels that made it impossible to pull water from them, forcing them to haul water for the cattle.
“In addition, the drought negatively impacted forage growth in pastures to the point where our family began feeding their hay supplies stored for winter. Yet many cattle families were hit much harder, experiencing an even greater reduction in hay yields and have hauled water for their cattle since June.
“Experts indicate that conditions as severe as this drought only occur every 50 to 100 years. Since then, the D4 drought conditions continued to spread throughout the area reaching a high of 12.6 percent of the state,” she said.
Representative Jones said the goal of the bill is “to provide the Ohio Department of Agriculture the fewest number of administrative and regulatory hurdles possible so that relief can be administered quickly.”
Personnel from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio treasurer’s office, and a dairy farm also provided testimony on the bill.