How will Ohio’s corn fare amidst increasingly dry conditions?

According to USDA, Ohio corn progress is far ahead of historical averages, and two thirds of the crop is in good/excellent condition, but dry weather is worrying farmers.

Corn progress and condition

The percentage of corn at the silking stage in the Buckeye State jumped significantly since the last Crop Progress report and was also far ahead of historical averages. As of July 28, 81% of the state’s corn crop had reached the silking stage, an increase of 21 percentage points since the week prior. Last year at this time, only 54% of the state’s corn was at the silking stage. Further, the five-year average is just 60%.

A quarter of Ohio’s corn had reached the dough stage as of July 28. With 25% of the corn crop at the dough stage, that’s a jump of 12 percentage points compared to the week prior. Last year at this time, just 2% of the state’s corn had reached the dough stage, and the five-year average for Ohio is only 9%. 

As far as corn condition, two-thirds of Ohio’s corn crop was in good shape or better, and only 5% was rated very poor or poor the week ending July 28. The specific breakdown of corn conditions was 1% very poor, 4% poor, 29% fair, 55% good, and 11% excellent.

Dry weather beginning to worry farmers 

Despite great numbers for corn progress and condition, weather conditions in Ohio are causing some concern. State Statistician Ben Torrance of the USDA NASS Ohio Field Office said that dry conditions were beginning to worry farmers. That’s according to the Ohio Crop Weather report released July 29. 

The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor report showed that over 72% of the state was abnormally dry or worse as of July 30. Further, nearly 40% of the state was experiencing at least moderate drought conditions, and almost 14% of the state was experiencing severe drought conditions.

Perspective from Pickaway County farmer in severe drought

Pickaway County is one of the areas experiencing the worst of the drought conditions. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, over 99% of the county was in a severe drought as of the week ending July 30, and it’s been that way since the week ending July 16. What’s more, the whole county has seen at least moderate drought conditions since the week ending July 2.

Brenna Gibson, who farms alongside her husband H.L. in Pickaway County, shared that they don’t expect the bumper crop they had last year by any means. “This year is extremely dry. Last year was a great crop year.”

The particular area Gibson’s farm is located is a particularly dry area in the first place, she said. Even crops just a bit north or south of them are greener than their own. “When [we] farm, it’s almost like a gamble because we don’t have those timely rains like some areas do,” Gibson said.

In 40 years of farming together, this isn’t the first time the Gibsons have faced growing seasons that are more challenging than the norm. “We’ve gone through this before, and we’ve weathered the storm before … we’ll get through it,” she said. Ultimately, Gibson’s attitude is to “hope for the best always” and she expressed a hopeful dependence on God to provide, saying, “He always does, even in the lacking times.”