Winter wheat drought area creeps up again

The amount of winter wheat considered in drought conditions increased one point to 73% for the week that ended on Feb. 22, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. USDA said winter wheat drought was 27% “moderate,” 27% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 1% “exceptional." Last week, USDA said winter wheat drought was 26% “moderate,” 27% “severe,” 18% “extreme,” and 1% “exceptional.”

For the HRW area, Oklahoma decreased the area classified as abnormally dry/drought by four points to 93%. Texas had a four-point increase in the area considered abnormally dry/drought to 92%. The amount of land classified as abnormally dry/drought in Kansas (86%), Nebraska (100%), South Dakota (81%), Montana (92%) and Colorado (100%) remained the same.

In the SRW area, North Carolina had a 17-point increase in the amount of land classified as abnormally dry/drought to 61%. Forty-three percent of Arkansas is abnormally dry/drought, down 11 points. Illinois has 25 of its land listed as abnormally dry/drought, a nine-point decrease. The area classified as abnormally dry/drought in Missouri is down four points to 32%. Michigan (60%), Ohio (0%) and Indiana (0%) had the same percentage of areas considered abnormally dry/drought as the previous week.