Farming has never been a strictly reliable or routine career, but with unpredictable weather and market conditions, farmers have lately been battling a number of unknowns.
That includes varying input costs for things like fuel and oil, fertilizer, seeds and pesticides.
The ag economy also has faced foreign trade deficits since 2022, said Brad Bales, senior director of state and national policy for the Ohio Farm Bureau.
“Even before this war in Iran, diesel prices were up 50% over five years. Just last year we had chapter 12 bankruptcies at 46% nationwide," he said. "So farm economy is already difficult to operate in. This is just another layer.”
Ohio has responded to rising costs with a gas tax break and an executive order temporarily easing restrictions on the use of red-dyed diesel fuel on public highways through the end of the year.
Bales said this kind of aid is a welcome break and the longterm results of these efforts should be felt in the ag sector.
"We'll see where we go here in 90 days, what the General Assembly will want to do, especially when it comes to gas prices, where things are looking as far as the outlook on the conflict," he said. "And so these are all areas that are very much up for consideration."
Until then, the ag sector has had to get creative with how it responds to rising costs and other stressors.
For farmers in Ohio, weather also poses a threat to their livelihood. Farmers were still reeling from the impact of a heavy drought in 2024 when immense rainfall hit the state this season.
While rain is not always damaging to farming, this type of intense downpour can push back planting and harvesting seasons.
John Weedon is a farmer on 284 acres near Cleveland, just east of Cuyahoga County. He said he attended a workshop recently where he learned that around 95% of crop losses are due to weather.
"We are seeing wetter springs, which means we have less field days. That is, we have less opportunities to get in the field because we don't want to get in the fields when the soil has a lot of moisture because we're going to rut up the field," he said. "Then we have really dry summers, and then sometimes we have some wet falls. Not this year so far, but we are not looking to shell our corn till mid-November, which is on the later side."
Small farmer Stephen Mackell has also seen non-stop erratic weather conditions hit his farm in Xenia
“80 degrees one day and then a frost the next night or whatever, and you'll see that, especially in the spring," he said. "But the wind also, being out in Xenia, we get quite a bit of that.”
In an effort to prevent damage to his crops, Mackell said he incorporated more covered culture tunnels over the past five years to protect the crops at his business, Green Table Gardens.
“We've invested in five of these smaller greenhouses and now two of the larger ones and we're building another large one this off-season," he said. "So we're investing more into tunnels because you know they provide a better product and they provide a better working environment for the crew and they can extend the season.”
Mackell said their business has seen multiple benefits since using the tunnels, even preventing insect infestations.
“It's been a real noticeable increase in the quality of the product we can grow," he said. "Just because we're protecting that plant from wind and from direct rainfall."
Back in Northern Ohio, Weedon said he has also has felt the weight of costly inputs. He reported a rise of 72% for diesel and 49% for fertilizer since February.
While he feels lucky to have purchased fuel in January, he said costs are consistently outweighing revenue.
“So that final number is 5% lower than it was last year," he said. "So we are struggling with higher prices, higher cost for inputs. But what we're getting paid is little on the lower side.”
Bales said stories like Weedon’s and Mackell's aren’t uncommon and the bureau points them to federal assistance programs. That includes crop insurance, commodity support programs and disaster assistance.
The bureau is pointing farmers to federal assistance programs like crop insurance, commodity support programs and disaster assistance.
But even with federal assistance, Weedon said there are a lot of international and stateside conflicts putting pressure on the ag industry. That includes movements in Washington that Weedon said are "stacking the deck" against farmers like him.
"We've been doing milking on the farm for 73 years so I guess there's a sense that we will figure out a way," he said. "It may not be easy, there will be obstacles, but we've survived. We will somehow figure it out."
