Winter wheat drought area remains steady

The amount of winter wheat considered in drought conditions was unchanged this week but remained at 73% for the week that ended on March 1, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.  USDA said winter wheat drought was 22% “moderate,” 32% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 1% “exceptional.” Last week, USDA said winter wheat drought was 27% “moderate,” 27% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 1% “exceptional."

For the HRW area, all of Kansas is now considered abnormally dry/drought, up 14 points from the previous week. Oklahoma decreased the area classified as abnormally dry/drought by one point to 92%.  Texas increased the amount of land considered abnormally dry/drought by one point to 93%. The amount of land classified as abnormally dry/drought in Nebraska (100%), South Dakota (81%), Montana (92%) and Colorado (100%) remained the same.

In the SRW area, Missouri increased its area considered abnormally dry/drought to 41%, up 10 points. North Carolina dropped the area listed as abnormally dry/drought by nine points to 52%. The area classified as abnormally dry/drought in Michigan decreased by seven points to 53%. Forty percent of Arkansas is abnormally dry/drought, down three points. Illinois (24%), Ohio (0%) and Indiana (0%) had the same percentage of areas considered abnormally dry/drought as the previous week.