Just how bad is the drought in Ohio? What better way to find out than to hear from those who live there.

As part of the U.S. Drought Monitor, you can share your experiences and what you’re seeing using the Condition Monitoring Observer Report system. You can even share a photo if you like. The public reporting system helps the National Drought Mitigation Center not only measure drought intensity, but also severity.

“Drought severity has no true definition as a less intense drought that lasts a longer time frame may lead to just as bad, or worse, conditions than a short, more intense drought — an age-long question we still don't have an answer to,” says Lindsay Johnson, NDMC climatologist. 

Impact information is collected through the CMOR system as “boots on the ground” insight. In the past 30 days since the time of this writing (Sept. 25), there have been 101 reports from Ohio, and dots on a map include the location they are coming from.

Click on a dot to read a report, or search by date or timeline, county and impact — everything from crops and livestock to water resources, fire, forestry and more.

This a great portal to share what is happening in the state, and the country, not only in exceptional drought, but other weather-related events. You can remain anonymous, or share your name or operation. I pulled a few Ohio responses, with the identification they shared:

Sept. 25, Adams County. “Our fields are dry and cracked. You could put three fingers in some of the cracks. Creek beds are dry and exposed. We are having to water cattle in places we’ve never had to water because the natural springs are dry and not flowing.” — Taxman

Sept. 24, Shelby County. As of Sept. 21, the farm livestock well has dried up. I’m forced to pump water from my home pond into a poly tank and transport to the farm to fill the steer and pig water troughs. The steer pasture dried up months ago, so I purchased hay for roughage, now the corn is drying up. I’m hand-cutting that for another source. The farm has been in the family since 1826 and never had any stories of the well drying up.”  —  Joe Renner

ORCHARDGRASS: This is the second cut of an orchardgrass hayfield in mid-September in Perry County. (Anonymous photo)

Sept. 24, Perry County. “This field [above] yielded 10.2 square bales [45-50 pounds] per acre. Normal year with similar fertilization typically yields 80 bales during second and third cut. We will not be making a third cut, and most of the ground will not have a second cut due to the input costs being worth more than the value of the hay with such low yields.

“Additionally, we have been hauling water for cattle for a month since the springs are dried up and crops are prematurely dying in the field from a lack of soil moisture. We had a half-inch of rain a few weeks ago and another half-inch a couple nights ago, but the soil is soaking it up immediately and is still overly dry.” — Anonymous

PARCHED PASTURE: Here is how a pasture looked Sept. 12 in Coshocton County. (Submitted by Pipefitter)

Sept. 24, Coshocton County. “If you look close [at the photo above], that is after I double-raked it. That 60 acres had 84 days of regrowth. Last year, it made 700 square bales and 84 round 4x5 bales. This year it made 387 squares and seven round bales. As of Sept. 24, after a little rain, the creeks are still not flowing. I am still hauling 750 gallons of water, plus using my well. I have doubled the hay I am feeding. I have noticed all my fence posts are loose, trees on creek banks are falling because the soil has shrunk around the roots. I have half-inch gap around my basement. Leaves are falling but not turning color.” —  Pipefitter

Sept. 19, Greene County. “I had to water the foundation of my house in areas that had been sprayed with Roundup early in the summer. The area of bare ground dried so much that the ground shrunk and cracked, threatening the integrity of the foundation of my home.

“I had to water several trees and other native plants that do not usually require water. Several trees are out of reach of my garden hoses. For some area, I hauled carts of water [about 20 gallons per gorilla cart] with my riding lawn mower. Several other trees are going unwatered. Several younger trees look as though they may die, especially those in open, sunny areas, and those that were planted this year.” —  JeMa

Sept. 9, Meigs County. “Pastures provide very little or no feed. Supplemental feeding is required to maintain livestock. Farmers are selling livestock. Hay and quality supplemental feed is becoming hard to find. Many regular sources for selling hay do not even have enough feed for their own animals, let alone enough to sell as excess. The concern of wildfire is high with the roadsides and pastures being so dry. There are many deer roaming very close to buildings, probably in an effort to find food and water. Lawns are brown and dried up, and there are sizable cracks in the earth.” — a dairy farmer

Sept. 6, Washington County. “Everything in our county is really dry. I, as well as many other farmers, am struggling to get by with how terrible the conditions are this year.

“First the flood came through and washed out all my herbicide. Then the drought came right after. The drought has stressed my plants out. The plants didn’t get water when they needed it. Disease has rapidly spread throughout the field due to how much stress the plants went through. I sprayed on a regular basis to help prevent it the best I could, but it wasn’t enough due to the drought. The yield of the crops is over 50% less of what it should be. It can’t get much worse than that. We all need help.” — Golden Acres LLC

Sept. 4, Athens County. “I’ve never seen conditions like this before. Extreme degree of loss to yield potential, complete or near crop failure. Crops planted in spring are dying, changing to harvest condition even if they’re not mature. Double-crop soybeans planted in late June are turning white, leaves curling due to zero moisture. Lawns and pastures are dormant.

“Livestock producers have started offloading their stock and trying to buy hay. I’ve sold my cattle and have already sold the hay I made this year. I normally have leftover hay in the spring after I feed, and sell. There’s an increased need for fire prevention and awareness, as any small fire would turn into a catastrophic blaze with the winds of the past few days. Emergency meetings have been held and events canceled.” — a farmer

Aug. 25, Washington County. “Since the first of August, we have had to start feeding hay and hauling water to our cattle. We are hauling 1,100 gallons of water a day to cattle. We have already had to buy 85 round bales and are buying more to make sure we have enough to get through winter. Our second cutting of hay only produced 450 square bales and three round bales. Last year, we had 2,000 square bales and 50 round bales. There are others in Washington and Morgan County that are in the same situation.” — Ashlee Jones with Lazy J Farms in Waterford

While the remnants of Hurricane Helene may bring some precipitation to drought-stricken Ohio, it’s not likely to ease the damage inflicted on agriculture. The state could sure use a heavy dose of moisture, but anything but a constant, light soak will likely just run off.

Prayers for those impacted.