Ohio State farm expo returning despite tornado

LONDON, Ohio (WCMH) – Seven months after it was hit by a tornado, Ohio State University's Molly Caren Agricultural Center is about to host the 62nd Farm Science Review. 

“Just to see everything moving, this is the best time of year for us because there’s just so much and you work all year for this," said Nick Zachrich, manager of the Farm Science Review. 

Exhibitors and other crews spent Monday putting the final touches on their areas. The grounds looked much different than they did in late February after the tornado hit.  

Watch: Farm science show returning to Madison County after tornado

“I was confident we were going to have a show, but it was just wow that's a lot of damage and a lot of things you just care about here," Zachrich said.  

Thirty-six buildings on the grounds were damaged, some worse than others, according to Zachrich. He said six ended up needing to be torn down. He also said cellular infrastructure and dozens of water and electric hook ups needed to be fixed. 

"There’s never a normal season,” Zachrich said. “It’s kind of like farming; when you talk to farmers, there’s never a normal weather season, so it’s always different, there’s always something new, but this one just had a little bit different challenges for us this year than what we normally are used to at Farm Science Review.” 

The day after the tornado hit, the superintendent of the property said the review would go on as scheduled. That's exactly what's happened. 

“Resilience seems to be the word of the year for a lot of people in agriculture community because, you know, we’re dealing with the drought now and we had the tornado challenges all across the state this year," Zachrich said.  

He said a few more tents than usual are being used this year due to the buildings lost.