"In our world, you can call it a drought right now:" Lack of rain has farmers, experts worried

Editor's note: this story was edited to correct the name of Mark McConnell An unseasonably dry end of spring has Lorain County farmers worried about their crops and weather experts warning a drought could be possible this summer. The National Weather Service Cleveland announced Thursday that northern Ohio has been placed in the "abnormally dry" category by the NWS drought monitor. "We are getting into a situation where we have not been getting enough rain over the last couple of weeks," NWS meteorologist Rick Garuckas said. "It takes into account the soil moisture that is available for crops to grow on, and that soil moisture is starting to become a little bit lower than normal. It means we aren't in a drought yet, but we are heading in that direction." The last measurable rain that northern Ohio received was on May 20, nearly two weeks ago. Though the region is not yet in a drought according to the NWS classification, it may as well be to some local farmers. "It is especially dry right now," Pittsfield resident and farmer Mark McConnell said. "Normally our biggest problem is getting the soil dry enough to plant, and right now there's pretty much no moisture in the upper layers of the soil where we plant the seeds. So this, well in our world, you can call it a drought right now." McConnell, who is also a member of the Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees, operates Hickory Grove Farms with his two brothers. The McConnells plant primarily corn and soybeans in the spring. McConnell said the dry conditions have him worried the soybeans, which are planted later than the corn, won't take root properly. "Very very seldom do we have conditions where the soil is so dry that it won't germinate the crop, but that is the case right now," he said. "Maybe one in 10, maybe a little more, seasons are this dry. This is extremely dry for our area this time of year." Corn and soybeans are two of the most commonly planted crops in the late spring and early summer in the region. Thomas Becker, an agriculture and natural resources educator with the Ohio State University Lorain County Extension, said that the issue for most farmers in Lorain County this time of year is usually too much moisture, rather than not enough. Typically Lorain County receives about four inches of rain in May, but this year it received between two-and-a-half and three inches. Becker said 45 percent of Ohio's topsoil is considered "short or very short" of moisture, citing models from Ohio State University atmospheric scientist Aaron Wilson. "Much of the topsoil conditions are at a point where normal plant growth and development may be curtailed," Becker said in an email. Because the concern in Lorain County is more often flooding, rather than drought, most farmers in the area have infrastructure designed to drain their fields of excess water, not irrigate them when they are drying up. "In parts of the world where they have more drought-prone soil they have irrigation, but irrigation is generally not economically feasible here," McConnell said. "Because we're usually worried about draining the soil. But it's drier than dry right now." Lorain County Farm Bureau President Robert Beekman said that for him, like many farmers in the area, irrigation just isn't an option. "Irrigation just really isn't possible for us here," Beekman said. "One because we really just aren't set up for it and two, it just economically doesn't make much sense. This area, it's just not normally something you need." McConnell said he and many other farmers have gone ahead with planting despite the lack of moisture, and are hopeful that rain will come soon enough to get the crop back on track. "Since planting is well underway at this point, about the most they can do is pray for rain," Becker said. "If you want a good example of what a gambler looks like, look at a farmer. Weather is one of those factors that farmers really have to consider when making decisions, and that's part of the gamble." According to the National Weather Service, over the next 10 days it still seems that there is no rain on the horizon. The current dry spell is due to a high-pressure system that has "parked itself" over the Great Lakes region, Garuckas said. There are signs the high-pressure system will weaken next weekend, but Garuckas said the air that will flow into the region probably will still be dry. "Over the Mississippi area in Iowa and Missouri they even have some moderate to severe drought conditions out there," he said. "A lot of our moisture comes from the west, so since they are so dry out to the west of us, that means it's likely we're gonna stay drier than normal over the next couple of weeks and we may even see this turn into at least a moderate drought if we don't see some rain." The only comparable years in recent memory were 2016, which saw a similar system dry out the Great Lakes and cause a moderate drought, and 2012, when a more severe drought struck much of the Midwest and eastern U.S. Beekman also recalled 2012, saying it was the last time he remembers harvesting hay in May. Hay needs to be harvested before the weather gets too hot and dry, usually sometime in July, or else it will dry out and lose any nutritional value it has. "We've taken in about 300 acres of hay, we have about 200 left to go and I expect to be done by June 6," Beekman said. "That's really unheard of, that's unreal for us. Usually, we aren't harvesting hay until late in July or into August, but we had to do it now." The rains of May and June usually chase farmers like Beekman and McConnell out of their fields for a few days during this season, but the dry weather has kept them working. "It's not just that we need the break, but the crops need it, the land needs it," Beekman said. Unfortunately for Lorain County's farmers, it seems, at least for the near future, the dry conditions are here to stay. "Anybody that has any sort of interest that needs rain like gardening or farming, just pay attention to the forecast and see when the next chances of rain are gonna be," Garuckas said. "I wish I had better news for people that it was going to rain, but it looks like at least the next 10 days are going to remain dry." Lorain County farmers will be watching the weather closely this week, as their early summer crops could hang in the balance. "Obviously we always watch the weather reports and there's no precipitation in sight," McConnell said. "Many farmers are done planting, we're almost done planting, and we'll just have to leave the rest of the season up to Mother Nature." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.