“We haven’t had much rain since we’ve got done planting the crops,” he says. “We’ve had a grand total of an inch so far and it’s really taking its toll on things. Corn is probably about half of the height it should be and beans are very sluggish. Some of them are only six or eight inches tall. They should probably be up closer to a foot or two by now.”

McClure says he’s optimistic that an inch or two of rain in the next week or 10 days would turn the harvest around, and provide an average crop season. And he says irrigation is helping, but is inadequate to make up for the lack of rain.

There may not be much other relief in sight. Meteorologists are predicting that rainfall in July and August will continue to be below normal in much of Ohio.

McClure says crop prices are high, which helps, but still needs a harvest with a healthy volume to cover costs.