Ohio’s corn and soybean harvest is ahead of schedule and much smaller than farmers would have liked.

Some drought-stricken fields barely produced 20% of their potential, according to Amanda Douridas, the Ohio State University Extension Educator for Madison County who is also part of the state’s agronomic crops team.

“They’re really all over the board,” Douridas said. “It’s hard to put a finger on it because different areas held up really well, considering the drought, and others, depending on the soil type, did not.”

An Oct. 28 USDA crop weather report predicted that Ohio’s harvest would “wrap up in the next coupleweeks,” about 14 days sooner than normal.

As of Oct. 27, the state’s corn was 72% harvested, which was well ahead of the five-year average of 38% for the same timeframe. Soybeans were 90% harvested, compared to the five-year average of 74%.

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Drought forced Ohio’s harvest to start two weeks early

Ohio’s lack of rain stressed crops to the point they stopped getting bigger and instead focused on making sure their seed would be complete enough to germinate this coming spring.

Of the Buckeye State’s 88 counties, 87 were highlighted as parched on the U.S. Drought Monitor map throughout most of the summer.

Crops withered in August and were so dry by the first week of September that many of the state’s farmers began their harvest two weeks early.

An early harvest for corn and soybean producers is never a good sign, especially in an age of modern genetics in which crops are designed to grow for as many days as possible.

More: How bad is Ohio’s drought? ‘Effect will be long-lasting,’ says Ohio Farm Bureau spokesman

‘It wasn’t even worth harvesting’

The state’s fields have not been affected equally by this year’s drought.

“You get into some pockets where it was off by quite a bit,” Douridas said.

West of Columbus, in Madison County, timely rains allowed many crops to flourish at crucial points in their growing phase.

“I’ve talked to farmers who didn’t really see that much impact at all with corn,” Douridas said. “Soybeans, maybe a little bit lower.”

But growers less than an hour away in Pickaway County, which is south of Columbus, are bringing in the worst harvest they’ve seen in their lives.

“Some of their sandy ground, they were harvesting 50 bushels of corn per acre,” Douridas said. “In a good year, and they’re irrigating, they’re averaging 250 bushels.”

Soybean yields have also varied drastically statewide from one field to the next.

A few farmers have chosen not to harvest their double crop, or second crop, of soybeans, which were planted over the summer after the wheat harvest.

“They were expecting severely low yields,” Douridas said. “It wasn’t even worth harvesting.”

More: Foreign ownership of Ohio farmland has been on the rise. Here’s the data

‘Farmers are seeing less profit’

The reduced yields have come while farmers are seeing a decrease in commodity prices and an increase in inputs like fertilizer, herbicide and about everything else it takes to produce a crop.

Despite the financial hardship, most operations will likely turn just enough profit that they can afford to do it all again in 2025.

“I don’t see a lot of people going under from just this one year of drought,” Douridas said.

Once they put their equipment away at the end of autumn, growers statewide will likely turn their attention to land-rental contracts that are expected to increase by about 3% ahead of spring planting.

“Land owners are paying more taxes, but farmers are seeing less profit,” Douridas said. “That’s going to be something we need to figure out how to balance.”

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — If you’re looking for a smooth voting process in Ohio, don’t wear political attire to the polls.

Diane Medina went out to the Lorain County Board of Elections early to vote in what she said was the most important election of her lifetime.

“Definitely for the presidency; that’s the main reason why I was here early,” Medina said.

She and her husband, Jose, had no problem waiting in the sun to cast their ballots.

“Long lines, but it was very swift,” she said.

And while the process was smooth for them, their BOE has already had to pull voters out of line to enforce state guidelines — all because of their clothing.

“This isn’t a new rule,” Lorain County BOE Director Paul Adams said. “This is something that we’ve done for a number of years.”

State rules prohibit voters or poll workers from wearing anything that can be seen as supporting or opposing a candidate, party or issue.

“We do ask that you remove any campaign shirts, paraphernalia, hats — those kind of things that you have that support or oppose any candidate or issue,” he continued.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office said this includes attire or garb with slogans like “Make America Great Again” or “MAGA.”

Many boards, like Lake and Portage, have signs posted with their rules.

“Each of our polling locations will also have signs posted in case voters are curious as to why they’re being asked to remove a hat or cover up a shirt or whatever the case may be,” Portage County BOE Deputy Director Terrie Nielsen said.

Although it may be exciting to support your candidate, you don’t want to run into issues.

“Everyone has a mission,” Medina said.

So, to be on the safe side, keep the political garb on your lawn — and not at the polls.

With the 2024 general election underway, we created a guide on everything you need to know about voting on or before Nov. 5.

2024 OHIO VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know

2024 OHIO VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Maureen Howard glanced out of her window at 11 p.m. and found her son, Will, playing football by himself in the front yard.

The porch light and front floodlights were the only things giving him light, while he snapped the ball, took his drop and evaluated the field in front of him.

Once he got to the top of his drop, he lined up and did it again. And again. And again. Midnight came. And sometimes later, to the point that Maureen had to tell Howard to come inside. But it was all mental work for Howard, who was entering his sophomore year at Downingtown West High School in Pennsylvania.

He was in the middle of a year-long quarterback battle, a sophomore trying to take the starting job from a senior, but to make it fair for everybody involved the coach, Mike Milano, and his coaching staff tracked everything in practice. It meant, there was no time for mistakes if Howard wanted to start, so the extra work came at home when nobody could see him.

That’s who Howard has been his whole life. He’s still that way at Ohio State. While he might not be on the field until midnight, he’s in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for countless hours watching film.

Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka is widely respected for his work ethic behind the scenes and is usually one of the last players out of the facility at night. This offseason, particularly in preseason camp, there was always one car there every time he left: Howard’s.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever stayed at the Woody longer than him,” Egbuka said.

Will Howard (18) grew up a Penn State fan and will face off with the Nittany Lions on Saturday as Ohio State’s starting quarterback. (Joseph Maiorana / Imagn Images)

Howard’s personality is rooted in that work ethic. He’s not flashy, and he doesn’t seek attention or affirmation from people he doesn’t know because he believes in himself. And he does not need to be in the spotlight.

It’s why his comments, after the win against Nebraska, were such a big deal. Asked how excited he was for Saturday’s top-five matchup at Penn State, he said he was “stoked.”

“I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life,” he said. “They didn’t think I was good enough. I guess we’ll see next week if I was.”

Ever since his youth football days, Howard has been proving people wrong, and Saturday’s homecoming gives him a chance to show his growth in the state where it all started. Howard was a simple kid growing up in Downingtown, Pa., about two and a half hours from Penn State.

He loved his family, sports, playing outside with his dad, Bob, and Penn State. Nearly everybody in his hometown is a Penn State fan. His father and uncle graduated from Penn State. His younger sister, Tori, is currently a senior at Penn State.

So when he announced he was going to transfer to Ohio State, it caught everybody in town off guard.

“We heard from so many friends saying, ‘You’re making this hard on us,’” Maureen said with a laugh.

But the reality was that Penn State just wasn’t the place for him. Don’t get that confused. Growing up, Howard wanted to play for the Nittany Lions.

James Franklin rode a helicopter to his games, which was such a big deal that it made the school district website at the time. But Howard always has flown under the radar, in part because of who he is and some unforeseen circumstances.

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After taking a sack during his junior year, Howard broke his throwing arm, keeping him from doing any workouts in what is a crucial time for any player’s recruitment. Once he healed, he broke his other wrist, dunking a basketball. Although that one wasn’t as bad, he still went to offseason camps in a cast.

During that time, numerous colleges dialed back their interest, including Penn State. The Nittany Lions signed three-star recruit Micah Bowens instead.

That was hard for the family to watch, at first. Howard saw other players around him and knew he was as good, or better, than people who were getting more national recognition. But much like now, Howard internalized that and turned it into motivation.

“There was some frustration, and I think that fueled Will,” Maureen said. “He’s like, ‘There’s people who say I can’t play Power 5 football. Well, watch me.’ I don’t think he’d be the player he is today without everything.”

“He loves being the underdog,” Bob said.

That mentality has fueled Howard for much of his career, but when he’s on the field, he doesn’t feel like an underdog. Howard has a confidence that rubs off on the entire Ohio State offense and program.

It was the same way in his first year as a starting quarterback in high school. After beating out a senior for the starting job, he worked to earn the respect of the rest of the upperclassmen. He didn’t do it with some grand gesture, Milano said; he did it by just being Howard.

Milano knows saying a player has “it” is a sports cliche, but that’s the best way he can describe Howard. He has “it,” but “it” shows up in different ways for players.

For some, it’s making the big play in the biggest moment, which is the case for Howard, too. His 75-yard drive to beat Nebraska on Saturday was important for Ohio State’s season aspirations, but the calm and poise he plays with during those moments stand out.

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One of Howard’s longtime friends is Penn State offensive tackle Drew Shelton. Shelton is two years younger than Howard, so when Howard was a senior, Shelton was taking his first offensive line snaps for Downingtown West.

One of his lasting memories of Howard was the way he came into the huddle against Garnet Valley, one of the perennial powers in Pennsylvania high school football, and steadied the team despite early struggles.

“Just being calm and collected and knowing that it’s going to work out, that’s the kind of leader he is,” Shelton said. “That’s the kind of guy he is.”

Those moments in high school set the tone for an adversity-filled college career right away. As a freshman, Howard got COVID-19 soon after arriving back on campus in June and then played major time when starting quarterback Skylar Thompson was injured. Howard then bounced in and out of the starting lineup but remained focused on the ultimate goal of winning and helping the Wildcats win a Big 12 title.

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He has carried that over to Ohio State where he has found ways to lead in hard times. Howard took the Oregon loss hard, knowing the clock ran out with the ball in his hands. But behind the scenes, he has been one of Ohio State’s most vocal leaders.

“It falls on the shoulders of a quarterback to rally a team,” Egbuka said. “He took it personally, but he’s been vocal about everything in practice and establishing what he wants our identity to be as a team.”

Now, he gets a chance at redemption. A top-five matchup in his home state is huge, but as Howard tells Bob often, it’s “just a 100-yard field.”

And just like old times, he’ll be dropping back, reading the defense with the floodlights on him. This time, however, there will be 100,000-plus people watching him.

(Top photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)