COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers show Ohio farmers have been hit with the state’s worst weather-prevented planting season on record.
The Columbus Dispatch reports the data released this week shows Ohio had the highest rate nationally of acreage on which insured farmers were prevented from planting because of weather. The data showed Ohio’s 15.1% rate was followed by Arkansas, Michigan and Mississippi.
More Ohio farmers were unable to plant this year and forced to collect on insurance than in any other year since the USDA began keeping prevented-planning records in 2007. That insurance allows farmers to collect for fixed costs when conditions such as heavy rainfall and flooding prevent planting crops.
More than 1.5 million acres in Ohio that normally would be planted with crops are lying fallow this year.
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