<b>Cloudy with a Chance of Podcast: How weather, climate and agriculture connect</b>

This week on Cloudy with a Chance of Podcast, Storm Center 7 Chief Meteorologist McCall Vrydaghs and Meteorologist Kirstie Zontini talk with experts about the impact of prolonged rain on farming and the changes that have been discovered in Ohio's climate.

OSU Extension Educator for Natural Resources Sam Custer works very closely with the Miami Valley farming community helping with farm planning, educating on crop management, and pesticide recertification. Custer said the next three weeks (End of April through Mid May) will be critical for local farms who need to accomplish a lot to get a corn and soybean crop ready.

 

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The impacts from weather extends further than just this past winter. February was the third wettest on record in Dayton, but above normal rainfall in fall got the ball rolling bringing delays to harvesting too.

“There’s a lot of anxiousness and stress for families right now,” Custer said.

OSU Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Aaron Wilson said Ohio is becoming more familiar with weather extremes, higher soil moisture, wetter periods and even drought. The correlation between changes in climate and impacts on farming and crop yields are more closely related than you would think.

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“For suitable days for field work we have essentially lost five days in April and five days in October since 1995 as a result of the increase in the overall wetness and the inability to get out into the fields,” Wilson said.

The two spoke about what farmers will need to happen weather-wise to catch up as well as the opposite side of the coin, drought!

Listen to this in-depth interview on Cloudy with A Chance of Podcast this week on Apple Podcast, Google Play, Stitcher or right here on WHIO.com Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe!

If you want to watch the full vodcast version download our WHIO App to check it out on your TV with Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Firestick.

For more information on climate in Ohio visit climate.osu.edu. If you need help farm planning, subscribe to OSU Extension's C.O.R.N. Newsletter here.

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