Corn, soybean cotton drought areas expand amid record heat
As of Aug. 29, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed 50% of the U.S. was covered by abnormal dryness/drought, unchanged from the previous week. USDA estimated drought (D1 or higher) covered 45% of corn production areas and 40% of soybeans, both up two percentage points from the previous week. Drought expanded five points to cover 37% of cotton areas. The Drought Monitor noted, “continued intensification of drought across areas of the Midwest, South, Southwest and the Pacific Northwest. In the Midwest, extreme heat impacted areas of the region including Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Illinois with temperatures soaring 6 to 10+ degrees F above normal. Daily high temperature records were broken across the region during the past week, including in Chicago (98), Milwaukee (101), Minneapolis (101), and Des Moines (100).”
For the Midwest, the Drought Monitor noted: “For the week, light precipitation accumulations (<2 inches) were observed across areas of Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. On the map, some degradations were made in areas of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois where both short- and long-term precipitation deficits persist. Average temperatures for the week were well above normal (2 to 10+ degrees F) across much of the region with the greatest anomalies observed across areas of southern Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, southern Illinois, and southwestern Wisconsin.”
For the Plains, the Drought Monitor stated: “On this week’s map, degradations were made in northern portions of North Dakota and in eastern Kansas. Conversely, recent precipitation during the past 30-60-day period led to some minor improvements on the map in drought-affected areas of southeastern Nebraska. Across most of the Plains, hot and dry conditions prevailed this week except for some isolated shower activity along the Kansas-Nebraska border region where 1 to 3 inches were observed. Average temperatures for the week were well above normal (2 to 8 degrees F) with the greatest departures observed in northwestern North Dakota and eastern portions of Nebraska and Kansas.”
