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Drought worsens in Central Nebraska with planting looming on the horizon

The drought in Central Nebraska is worsening as planting season approaches.  

Farmer Clay Govier of Broken Bow tells Brownfield he hasn’t received measurable moisture since early November. “You can see cracks in the ground.  We’re in desperate need of some moisture for sure.”

Govier says the dryness is having an immediate impact on cover crops and winter wheat. “Things are just so dry that we’re going to have a lot of winter kill whether that’s trees in your windbreaks, possibly in your wheat or the cover crop growing out in your field.”

He says he’ll consider switching acres to ensure better coverage for his crops because he plants “some different crops like yellow field peas where crop insurance doesn’t really pay out well.  If things are looking really dry, we might switch and plant corn there just because if something is going to burn up in a non-irrigated field, you might as well plant something that your crop insurance is going to pay a little bit.”

Govier grows a variety of crops including corn, soybeans, winter wheat, yellow field peas, red kidney beans and rye.

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