It's hard to believe in drought while driving around eastern Washington's Palouse country on a rainy spring day.
Water seeps from hillsides and ponds in the low spots.
Until mid April, tractors stood idle beside fields, equipment hooked up waiting to roll as soon as fields dry enough to support their weight. In order to plant, some farmers have seeded around the wet spots, leaving them to dry out. The problem is that the moisture doesn't go down very far. Indeed, the Palouse is in a drought. As farmers wait for fields to dry enough to plant spring crops, some worry whether there will be enough moisture to carry the crop to harvest.