Iowa And Nebraska Get Drought Warning

CBS (h/t Big Picture Ag):

Farmers in Nebraska and Iowa should prepare for drought conditions this summer that could devastate their crops, climatologists said Thursday.

The warnings echoed what ranchers and farmers reported from their fields this week — dry conditions unlike anything they've seen.

Nebraska State Climatologist Harry Al Dutcher said the state averages an inch of rain per week in June, but the soil is so dry that crops will need nearly double the typical rainfall throughout the month just to grow as normal. And that, Dutcher said, is unlikely.

Farmers who irrigate will also have to use more water, raising their costs and cutting into their profits. Dry-land farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature and crop insurance.

"Unless we go through an exceptional three-week wet spell, we're going to be playing this game on and off all growing season," Dutcher said. "At this point, it's just a matter of what is the degree of crop damage going to be? I hate to be so negative, but how can you not be at this point?"

I only got 0.2" out of the rain today, and our forecast is pretty dry for the next 10 days.  Some of our corn has been curling pretty bad the last couple of days, so things aren't looking all that great here, either.