Extreme drought in Ohio affecting everyone from farmers to gardeners

BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO (WTRF) – Parts of Ohio, including Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison and Noble counties, are officially in a D-3 or “extreme” drought.

Agriculture experts say a garden needs four inches of water a month to grow.

In this part of the Ohio Valley, there have only been four inches of water in the last three months.

At the Ohio University Extension office in Belmont County, they say everyone’s impacted, from backyard gardeners to serious farmers. Agricultural Educator Dan Lima says farm animals need water even more than feed.

“Groundwater’s really low, wells are low, springs are running really slow to sometimes even drying out, completely. So it’s harder to get water, it’s harder to get the grass to grow, to feed animals if you have livestock. And we are seeing farms that are selling off cows just because they don’t have the resources to maintain them.”

Dan Lima, Belmont Co. Agricultural & Natural Resources Educator

The U.S. Drought Monitor looks at five levels of drought, labeled D-zero through D-4. Right now, those southeast Ohio counties are at the next-to-the-worst level.

The Ohio House Agriculture chairman urges farmers to document their hardships with water, livestock and crops, and report them to the Soil and Water Conservation District.

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