July 17, 2007

 

Ohio cattle herd, crop yields affected by drought

 

 

Most of Ohio is under a moderate or severe drought, and that coupled with a late spring freeze has left farmers dealing with reduced yields on corn, small fruit, vegetables and hay.

 

The freeze reduced most hay yields by as much as 50 percent in late May, when the season's first culling usually takes place, said Elizabeth Harsh, executive director of the Ohio Cattlemen's Association. Pasture is also scarce, she said.

 

That sent many cattlemen scrambling to buy hay and other feed as worries grow about a shortage this winter.

 

"The south and southwestern parts of the state are really feeling it," Harsh said, referring to the drought. "Ironically, that's where most of our beef producers are."

 

Tim Hartsock, a hay farmer near Circleville whose 530 acres of alfalfa have been unaffected by the drought because he uses irrigation, said he began taking buy orders in early June.

 

"Lots of years, I have to be out aggressively selling my different qualities of hay," he said. "This year, people are interested in buying anything - low quality or high quality."

 

Depleted feed supplies have already spurred some cattlemen to sell parts of their herds in other states, including Kentucky. Some Ohio cattlemen are beginning to sell their cows, said Stan Smith with the Ohio State University Fairfield County Extension office.

 

"Others are just hoping that a significant and consistent rainfall will come," he said.

 

The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration reported last week that three-fourths of the state is in a moderate drought.

 

And high temperatures, which could worsen the effects of the drought, are again expected next week, said Mike Palecki of the Midwestern Regional Climate Centre.

 

"Drought is a rather slow-moving phenomenon, often referred to as a creeping natural disaster," he said.

 

The one-two punch of freeze and drought has also wiped out as much as 75 percent of fruit crops in many areas around Cincinnati, including northern Kentucky, said Tim Woods, an agricultural economist at the University of Kentucky.

 

The dry conditions are also destroying as much as half of Ohio's small fruit crops, like blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, Woods said. This is after most of the region's apples, peaches and pears were devastated by the spring's chilly weather.

 

Continued drought could lead to a huge loss of crop yield, especially corn, said Randy Zondag, director and educator of Horticultural and Natural Resources at the Ohio State University Extension in Lake County.

 

Also, prices for fruit and vegetable farmers are expected to rise, as farmers pass along soaring irrigation bills to consumers, Woods said.