According the the latest report from the National Drought Mitigation Center, most of the U.S. endured a hot and drier-than-normal week, including most areas of drought. Temperatures prompted drought intensification over large parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Central States.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the coverage of topsoils short or very short of moisture increased by 6 percent this past week, now covering 58 percent of the contiguous 48 states. This is the greatest coverage at this time of year in more than 9 years, the prior record in that short interim being just over 50 percent in 2020.
Excessively hot and dry weather dominated the Midwest last week, worsening an already-serious drought in the western half of this region. D2 and D3 conditions expanded markedly across Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri under conditions highly favorable for the rapid intensification of drought. In Missouri, 40 percent of the corn crop and 23 percent of soybeans were in poor or very poor condition. In addition, nearly two-thirds of pasture and rangeland in Minnesota was in poor or very poor condition, as were 46 percent of Iowa pastures and 43 percent of Missouri pastureland.
To the north and west of central Nebraska, dryness and drought are restricted to the eastern and northern Dakotas, and southwestern Colorado. As in other parts of the Nation’s midsection, agricultural drought stress is palpable, and on the rise. Across Kansas, 40 percent of soybeans are in poor or very poor condition, as are 33 percent of the corn crop, 29 percent of sorghum, and 47 percent of rangelands. Across Nebraska, about one quarter of all the aforementioned crops are in poor or very poor condition.
National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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