By: David Pitt
Published: August 30,2013
DES MOINES, Iowa -- A growing season that began unusually wet and
cold in the Midwest is finishing hot and dry, renewing worries of
drought and its impact on crops.
"Over the last couple of months,
drought conditions have expanded in the Midwest from northern Missouri
to portions of Minnesota and the eastern Dakotas," said weather.com
meteorologist
Chris Dolce.
"Severe drought conditions now exist in parts of central Iowa and
northern Missouri. As of Aug. 30, Des Moines, Iowa has seen under an
inch of rain for the month. The total rainfall deficit since June 1 has
grown to more than eight inches."
Temperatures soared to records in recent days in parts of the region, reaching nearly 100 degrees in some areas.
"It's
about the worst case scenario we could have with these high
temperatures and the lack of water with soil moisture declining," said
Roger Elmore, an agronomy professor at Iowa State University.
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Latest National Drought Status
A wet, cool spring delayed planting and slowed crop growth - but it
also replenished soil moisture in many crop producing states, causing
some of last year's widespread drought to retreat. The rain stopped in
July in many of those states, however, and as the soil dried out, the
heat set in and stressed corn and soybean crops.
The southeast
Iowa city of Burlington, which is surrounded by corn fields, had its
wettest spring on record at 19.23 inches of precipitation, nearly 8
inches above normal. Yet it's now on track to have its driest summer on
record, with only 3.86 inches so far, 8.41 inches below normal.
Wayne
Humphries farms about 1,000 acres about 45 miles north of Burlington at
Columbus Junction. He grows corn and soybeans and raises hogs.
He
said he delayed planting by about 30 days because of wet fields and now
is watching the lower leaves of cornstalks turn brown from lack of
moisture. He hasn't seen a measurable rain for 30 days.
Soybean plants are suffering too as seeds are developing in the pods.
"I
have solace in the fact that we did everything we could and we did it
to the best of our ability and now whatever happens, happens," he said.
"It's sort of a philosophical moment."
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Corn
and soybeans have developed enough that weather conditions are not
likely to reduce the number of kernels on the corn cob or the seeds in
soybean pods. But those kernels and seeds could develop smaller and
weigh less, which could reduce the harvest this fall, Elmore said.
Unless
it's a drastic reduction, it's unlikely to affect consumer prices at
the grocery store. A shortage of corn and soybeans from a bad year would
likely have a more immediate impact on meat prices because it costs
more for livestock farmers to feed their herds.
“The crops are holding up good. In another week or so, they are going to need a drink.
”
Dean Stoskopf, farmer
The dry conditions aren't confined to Middle America: for the first
time since early April, more than half of the country is now in some
stage of drought, according to the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report
released Thursday. That includes much of the West, where the hot, dry
weather has fueled wildfires.
Drought conditions surged in the
past week in corn-producing states, up to 45 percent of the region from
25 percent the week before, said Brad Rippey, a meteorologist with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. Soybeans in drought also increased
sharply in the last week to 38 percent from 16 percent, he said.
In
northwest Kansas, farmer Brian Baalman watched the temperature reach 94
degrees on his truck thermometer Wednesday. He farms about 30 miles
west of Colby, where corn plants are turning white and ears are drooping
as the heat kills the corn that's not irrigated.
"We are
basically back to where we (were) in the moisture situation before the
rain came, you know," he said. "Go west of me and it is a lot different,
drier yet, and folks are worse off than we are," he said.
Lack of
rain has caused drought conditions to expand in most of Wisconsin and
Minnesota, along with eastern Illinois, western Indiana and northern
Michigan, and parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, according to the
drought report.
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Rain
eased drought in portions of northern Nebraska, though much of the
western half of the state remains in extreme drought. The report also
shows that abnormally dry conditions, one stage below drought, expanded
in eastern Iowa and South Dakota.
All of those states grow either corn or soybeans, or both.
In
Wisconsin, where farmers have been waiting weeks for rain, grazing
usually provides about half of the food that the 550 dairy cows consume
in the summer at Saxon Homestead Farm. But this year, the pastures are
providing only about a third of what's needed, and farmer Karl Klessig
and his family have already dipped into their winter food supply.
"We
never touch those stacks until October or November," Klessig said
Wednesday. "This year, we started feeding two of those stacks in
August."
But the drought monitor showed improvement in western and
central Kansas, western and central Oklahoma, the Panhandle of Texas,
south-central Arkansas, and eastern Louisiana. Improvement from rain
also was noted in western and southern South Dakota.
In western
Kansas, farmer Dean Stoskopf said temperatures hovering in the upper 90s
have helped crops mature at his family farm near Hoisington.
"The crops are holding up good," he said, but acknowledged: "In another week or so, they are going to need a drink."
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Hartwell Lake at Lightwood Creek boat ramp in January 2008. (iwitness/gch30643)
