Iowa Farmer on Drought: I’ve “never seen it this dry before”

As the U.S. cattle herd hits its lowest levels since 1951, one major contributing factor is ongoing drought conditions affecting many parts of farm country.

According to one farmer in eastern Iowa, he has never seen it this dry before.

Farmers in the Hawkeye State are currently facing a range of ongoing drought conditions classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as “abnormal” to “extreme” levels with over two million people across the state currently experiencing some dryness.

Thankfully, recent low-pressure systems brought some much-needed precipitation across parts of the Corn Belt last week. According to the same farmer in eastern Iowa, his operation recently received significant snowfall, reaching almost eight inches, and it melted fast. Usually, when snow melts that fast, he says there is immediate flooding, but that wasn’t the case this time.

The farmer is entering his third consecutive growing season with extreme drought conditions, and if he can keep water in the soil long enough, he plans to rotate corn on corn this year.

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