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Drought still persistent in areas of WCB despite some rain

Some farmers in the Western Corn Belt continue to manage drought conditions while other regions have had some improvement from recent rainfall.

“I don’t know how long the dryland will be able to hold on because it is quite literally like powder.”

Eastern Nebraska farmer Mitch Oswald says he’s been irrigating fields almost six weeks ahead of schedule to help recharge the soil profile. “(My dad and I) have been running every pivot this last week and looking like that will probably continue through this next week, which is kind of the same thing that everybody else in this area is doing.”

He tells Brownfield he’s received one inch of moisture since April. “I think every pivot in the county has run at least one if not two circles so far to help water in herbicide to get the crop out of the ground. We were planting down 2 to 2 1/2 inches deep, and even then, we are still finding pretty dry spots.”

The latest US Drought Monitor shows an 11 percent improvement for extreme and exceptional drought classifications in Nebraska from last month, but intensification in Oswald’s region.