Hot, dry spell brings back drought worries

An ear of corn hangs on a withered stalk in a Farmingdale cornfield.  A growing season that began unusually wet and cold in the Midwest is finishing hot and dry, renewing drought worries. 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A growing season that began unusually wet and cold in the Midwest is finishing hot and dry, renewing worries of drought and its impact on crops. 

Temperatures soared to records in recent days in parts of the region, reaching nearly 100 degrees in some areas.  The heat wave struck many farm states – from the Dakotas to Wisconsin, down through Missouri – that have seen too little rain this growing season. 

“It’s about the worst case scenario we could have with these high temperatures and the lack of water with soil moisture declining,” said Roger Elmore, an agronomy professor at Iowa State University. 

A wet, cool spring delayed planting and slowed crop growth – but it also replenished soil moisture in many crop producing states, causing some of last year’s widespread drought to retreat.  The rain stopped in July in many of those states, however, and as the soil dried out, the heat set in and stressed corn and soybean crops. 

The southeast Iowa city of Burlington, which is surrounded by corn fields, had its wettest spring on record at 19.23 inches of precipitation, nearly 8 inches above normal.  Yet it’s now on track to have its driest summer on record, with only 3.86 inches so far, 8.41 inches below normal. 

Soybean plants are suffering too as seeds are developing in the pods. 

Corn and soybeans have developed enough that weather conditions are not likely to reduce the number of kernels on the corn cob or the seeds in soybean pods.  But those kernels and seeds could develop smaller and weigh less, which could reduce the harvest this fall, Elmore said.