News

Winter precipitation provides relief for Iowa farmers

Iowa Climatologist Dr. Justin Glisan says an increase in winter precipitation is helping improve soil conditions for the upcoming growing season.

“January has been anywhere from 6-12 degrees above average,” he said. “Across the state of Iowa, we’ve also seen over 200% of normal precipitation.”

He tells Brownfield drought continues to impact a large area of the state, but the right elements could provide relief for farmers.

“A large scale shift in the atmosphere, along with this recent wetness in December, and then a snowpack on the ground right now, you put all of those together and those are the pieces we need to recover some of that moisture we’ve lost over the last few years,” Glisan said. “Especially during the growing season with vegetative demand.”

Glisan says the February outlook shows elevated signals for wetter-than-average conditions across the eastern two-thirds of Iowa.