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Drought situation intensifies in Eastern Corn Belt

A climatologist says he’s concerned about the severity of drought conditions in parts of the Eastern Corn Belt.

Eric Hunt with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says a large portion of Ohio is in desperate need of rain.

“We’ve seen very widespread and intense drought formation across parts of Appalachia including southeastern Ohio and West Virginia where we probably have some of the worst drought conditions that we’ve seen in decades.”

He says it could lead to some transportation challenges for the ag industry.

“We do need to get some improvement in the Eastern Corn Belt because a lot of the headwaters go to the Mississippi (River) and right now this area is extremely dry. We do need to get these river levels up in this region.”

Hunt says river levels could decline to levels seen in the fall of 2023 if conditions don’t improve soon.