COLUMBUS — Ohio finally got some much-needed rain, but it might be too late to save the state's crops, officials said.

        Areas of the state got 2 inches to 5 inches of rain Thursday and Friday, but many crops were too far gone after months of drought.

        “It's too late,” Ohio Farm Bureau spokesman Joe Cornely said. “There are many farmers who will not even harvest anything.”

        Mr. Cornely said last Monday's Weekly Crop Rating, released by the Ohio Agricultural Statistics Service, rated 59 percent of corn and 55 percent of soybeans as “poor” to “very poor.”

        “In good crop years, it's not uncommon that 75 percent of crops are rated "good' to "excellent.' This is just the reverse,” Mr. Cornely said. “This may mean a yield loss of 30 percent to 70 percent or worse.”

        To make matters worse, more rain might only hurt.

        “It's really only going to be a hindrance to harvest what was out there. Farmers don't like to go into wet fields — it compacts the soil and makes deep ruts,” said Curt Ely, the Farm Bureau's vice president of information.

        The Palmer Drought Index, last issued a week ago, indicated most of Ohio would need 3 inches to 4 inches of rain to recover from moderate to severe drought.

        Most of Ohio's corn, along with hay, alfalfa and grass, is used for cattle feed.

        “Producers got a fair first cutting in June, but subsequent cuttings just didn't grow,” Mr. Ely said.

        Mr. Ely called this a year of extremes, with a wet spring that delayed plantings, then the summer heat. Last month, the state sought disaster aid for farmers in 85 of Ohio's 88 counties.

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