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Harvest is well underway around the county, and with the dry conditions field fires are top of mind for many. There have been several around the area, including a large one early last week in the North Lewisburg area. As I travelled back and forth from Farm Science Review last week, and around the county since then I did notice that most folks do have a liquid tender, or some other source of water parked at the side of the field. One producer I visited with recently had a tank with an electric pump mounted to the grain cart, which I thought was pretty ingenious. While we are getting a well over-due dose of rain currently, we will still need to be cautious when field activities resume. Taking time to blow the machines off, and keeping extra fire extinguishers handy, in addition to keeping a source of water close all go a long way to preventing a widespread field fire.
Also, there are resources available through the FSA to help producers affected by the drought conditions. There is a handy online tool that walks you through what programs you might qualify for here: https://www.farmers.gov/protection-recovery/disaster-tool. Of particular interest should be the LFP – Livestock Forage Disaster Program, that any producer of grazing livestock in the county should qualify for. Check with the FSA office for more details.
To help livestock farmers that are in need of additional forage this year, the ODA has put together a hay directory here: https://agri.ohio.gov/divisions/administration/resources/ohio-hay-directory. Or, if you are a producer looking to sell hay it's free and easy to add your information to this list. OSU Extension has also compiled a drought related list of resources available here: https://kx.osu.edu/page/early-drought-response.
Best of luck as we continue with the harvest season and be safe out there!
Grant Davis
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