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Nebraska farmers receive first major rain since July but say a large moisture deficit exists

Mother Nature brought some relief from drought conditions in parts of the Western Corn Belt, but some farmers say there’s still a long way to go.  

“That 1.60 soaked in pretty fast.  There are still cracks in the ground I’ve seen.”

Northeast Nebraska farmer and cattle producer Joan Ruskamp says the area received its first significant rain since July on Saturday morning. “We’ve been irrigating nonstop here at home where we have two pivots and a traveling gun and a well.  It’s been a lot of work to irrigate, but our dryland crop isn’t so blessed.”

Mike Bergen farms in South-Central Nebraska and tells Brownfield there were timely rains during planting and June, but turned hot and dry in July. “We’re probably still 7 inches behind for the year.”

But, he tells Brownfield, the inch of rain he received is significant. “The back half of irrigating was definitely a grind, but we made it through. We’re very blessed to have water and I think this is going to finish things off.”

The National Weather Service reported the eastern half of the state received anywhere from 0.5 inches to 2 inches on Saturday.