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Spring weather improves soil moisture levels

Ohio’s state climatologist says this spring’s wet weather has helped replenish overall soil moisture for parts of the state. 

Aaron Wilson tells Brownfield he doesn’t expect another severe drought to develop this summer. 

“That wet March, wet April, and even for most of the state, a wet May has led to really saturated soils,” he says. “That’s recovered soils in the southeast, and so we’re heading into the month of June in better shape than we were this time last year.”

While conditions have improved in parts of the Eastern Corn Belt, he says farmers in other regions could face challenges.

“It would start to creep in later in the season,” he says. “We see some signs that the Western Ag Belt, the Northern Plains, and the upper Midwest, drought may set in a little bit more as the summer goes on, but right now we’re doing okay.”

Wilson says periods of regular rainfall will likely continue throughout the month for parts of Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois.

AUDIO: Aaron Wilson