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Cong. Latta visits NW Ohio farms

Northwest Ohio is one of the hardest hit areas of the state when it comes to the drought and on Monday, August 6, Ohio’s 5th District Congressman Bob Latta and Ohio’s Director of Agriculture Dave Daniels visited farms in Fulton, Defiance and Williams counties to see firsthand the impact the summer drought is having.

The Congressman describes what he saw as devastating.

“In Defiance County and talking with the County Agent there, they’re talking about maybe one-fifth to one-sixth of what they got last year in corn production,” the Congressman said.

When talking with Brownfield the Congressman was driving by a field of corn that wasn’t waist high, he was in a field of tomatoes that were half the size they should be.

Some of the farmers in his District will be covered by crop insurance, others though, like livestock producers, are being hit with a double whammy.

“First of all they’ve got their own fields that aren’t going to produce this year, then they’re going to have to go out and buy silage or more corn to feed their livestock,” Latta said. “It’s going to be tough on them this year.”

While the farmers he visited with didn’t ask for anything specific, the 5th District Congressman tells Brownfield he would like to see a 5-year Farm Bill passed to give farmers the ability to plan.

Audio: Congressman Bob Latta, Ohio’s 5th District (5:30 mp3)

Photo courtesy Congressman Latta’s office