Drought footprint expands
As of July 5, 70% of the U.S. was saddled with abnormal dryness/drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, up one percentage point from the previous week and now 13 points higher than this year’s low in mid-June. This week’s Drought Monitor commentary notes, “Short-term drought continued to rapidly expand across the Ohio, Tennessee and Middle Mississippi Valleys along with parts of the Corn Belt. Thunderstorms brought locally heavy rainfall and drought relief to parts of the central to northern Great Plains. However, 7-day temperatures averaged above-normal throughout the Great Plains. A tropical disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico and a trough of low pressure resulted in heavy rainfall and improving drought conditions to southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. Convective rainfall was highly variable this past week across the Southeast with isolated amounts exceeding 3 inches while other areas remained mostly dry with worsening drought conditions.”
Across the Corn Belt, dryness/drought covers 68% of Illinois, 94% of Indiana, 50% of Iowa, 56% of Kansas, 40% of Michigan, 17% of Minnesota, 64% of Missouri, 87% of Nebraska, 0% of North Dakota, 36% of Ohio, 52% of South Dakota and 43% of Wisconsin. Aside from some pockets, especially in the western Corn Belt, most of the drought is classified as D0 (abnormally dry) or D1 (moderate drought).
USDA estimates the drought footprint at 29% for corn (up six points from last week), 22% for soybeans (up seven points), 19% for spring wheat (unchanged) and 68% for cotton (up seven points).
