The State Ag Director says all Ohio counties are considered in drought.
There were some widely scattered showers and thunderstorms that brought temporary relief for small parts of the state over the weekend. For the most part Ohio is becoming increasingly dry and parched. The northwestern part of Ohio is hardest hit.
David Daniels, the Ohio Department of Agriculture Director, says all 88 Ohio counties are considered in drought.
"36 percent of Ohio's corn crop and bean crop are listed in poor or very poor condition. Our soils are dry or extremely dry which indicates that economic loss to area farmers is already beginning," he said.
Gov. John Kasich says he's asked state officials to look for ways to deal with the problem.
"I've asked him (Daniels) to take a look at what other states are doing that might be unique to deal with this problem," Kasich said.
Kasich is also worried about flooding when the drought finally breaks.
"The ground is so dry and so hard you worry that when the rains finally come we're going to have issues," he said.
He says the state is already making preparations for that. Kasich believes preparation was key to making sure there weren't more deaths from the heat that hit after the June 29th storms that knocked out power to more than a million Ohioans. He said there were four deaths from the heat.
