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After strong start, Iowa Ag Secretary concerned about expanding dryness

Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture is pleased with the start of the growing season in his state.

Mike Naig says planting ran significantly ahead of the five-year average.

“Now that’s not uniform of course, there were parts of the state that were slowed down because of some wet conditions. But as we turned the page to June, I feel really good about where we are.”

But he tells Brownfield dry conditions are a concern.

“We shift our thinking to ‘how are we going to do on rainfall, precipitation. What’s the Drought Monitor looking like as we get into the summer months, especially the critical months of June, July, and August.”

Naig says while below average precipitation the first half of June has been helpful for fieldwork, soil moisture levels remain low and drought conditions have worsened across large swaths of Iowa.