Fifteen percent of the Midwest is affected by drought, twice as much of the region as a week ago, said the Drought Monitor on Thursday, as corn and soybean crops entered their reproductive stages. Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri had the largest increases, up 10 percentage points or more.
“The rapid onset of drought continues to affect parts of the Corn Belt along with the Ohio and Middle Mississippi valleys,” said the weekly Drought Monitor. In most areas, drought was listed as “moderate,” the first designation in the four-step rating system that progresses to “severe,” “extreme,” and “exceptional.”
Conditions worsened to severe drought in four counties near Champaign, in east-central Illinois, with soils drying out. “Impacts include visibly stressed corn and poor pasture conditions,” said the Drought Monitor. Overall, 18 percent of Illinois was in drought, compared to 8 percent last week, and 2.8 percent was in severe drought.
In Iowa, drought coverage was virtually unchanged at 14.2 percent, but a wedge-shaped area of extreme drought expanded somewhat in Plymouth, Woodbury, and Cherokee counties near Sioux City, in the northwestern part of the state.
Some 39 percent of Indiana was reported to be in drought, up from 10 percent last week, and 20 percent of Missouri, compared to less than 9 percent last week. Parts of northwest Wisconsin were said to be in moderate drought because of decreasing stream flows and loss of soil moisture. Nearly 8 percent of Wisconsin was rated in drought; last week, none of the state was.
Illinois and Iowa are the top corn and soybean states in the nation.