The latest Iowa crop and weather report from the USDA suggests drought conditions will expand in northwest Iowa this week.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s measurements last Tuesday indicated parts of Plymouth, Cherokee and Woodbury Counties were in extreme drought and much of northwest Iowa were classified as in severe or moderate drought.
The state climatologist says while there were heavy rains in northeast Iowa last week, the remainder of the state was drier than normal and the rainfall deficit is approaching an inch in many areas. Weekly rainfall was just a hundredth of an inch at “several reporting stations in northwest and southwest Iowa.”
The USDA rates 81% of Iowa’s corn crop in good or excellent condition, while just over three quarters of Iowa soybeans have a condition rating of good or excellent.