August 17, Ag Professional – (National) Drought worsens; 87 percent of corn crop affected.
The weekly Drought Monitor showed few notable improvements and some serious degradation as more than 60 percent of the nation copes with drought conditions, Ag Professional reported August 17. As of the week of August 6, 87 percent of the corn crop was impacted by the drought, with more than half in extreme to exceptional drought. ?The primary corn and soybean agriculture belt has been especially hard-hit by drought the last four months,? the Palmer index reported. ?By the end of July 2012, about 86 percent of the primary corn and soybean belt was experiencing moderate to extreme drought, surpassing all previous droughts except those in 1988 and the 1930s.? Even with the lower temperatures and scattered light rain showers for some areas, exceptional drought doubled in the High Plains, jumping from 8 to 16 percent. Exceptional drought in the Midwest jumped to 8 percent from 6 percent. Indiana saw improvement as areas in extreme to exceptional drought dropped from 69 percent to 46 percent. However, Kansas and Missouri reported significant jumps in exceptional drought conditions. Kansas was wrapped with exceptional drought, which now makes up 63 percent of the State.
Source: http://www.agprofessional.com/news/El-Nino-lingers-on-the-horizon-as-drought-worsens-166432156.html