Drought across the US Midwest is headed in the wrong direction as the spring planting season draws nearer.
The latest weekly update of the US drought monitor on Thursday showed almost 38% of the Midwest impacted by some form of drought as of Tuesday, up about 4 points from the previous week and the fourth consecutive weekly increase. The turn to generally drier weather in February followed relief in January, when the amount of Midwest drought fell from about 50% at the beginning of the month to less than one-quarter by the end.
The Midwest drought commentary said conditions did improve this past week in northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and the northern Michigan Lower Peninsula, following rainfall amounts of anywhere from a half to 2 inches. However, things generally deteriorated elsewhere in the region amid warm, windy weather and a lack of precipitation.
Conditions remain the worst in No. 1 corn producer Iowa, with extreme drought expanding in the central portion of the state. In southeast Iowa, despite the wetter weather in January, creeks, rivers and pond levels are still low, “indicative of the short- and long-term significant drought conditions across much of Iowa,” the commentary said.
An estimated 32% of US corn production was within an area affected by drought as of Tuesday, up 2 points on the week and the highest since Jan. 23. Last year at this time, drought was impacting roughly the same amount of national corn production at 33%.
