News

MO drought committee: conditions much better

Missouri’s deputy ag director said timely rains throughout the growing season mean the state’s corn and soybeans look better than they have in the past few years.

Chris Klenklen also told the Missouri Drought Assessment Committee in a meeting on Friday “we’ve had a very good hay crop. I think most folks have had an opportunity to put hay up, some of it got wet, but I don’t think anyone’s complaining.”

Missouri’s state climatologist Zach Leasor said soil moisture is recharging.

“Big improvements compared to last July in Missouri, but also in the north in the Mississippi River Basin where we’ve been seeing some flooding.”

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor says a little more than 1% of Missouri is experiencing abnormally dry conditions, which is an improvement from three months ago when almost three-quarters of the state was abnormally dry or in drought.

National Weather Service Senior Service Hydrologist Mark Fuchs said there’s more rain in the forecast with scattered, mostly below normal totals expected.

“We are expecting upwards of one inch of rain in western Missouri, south of the I-70 corridor. Down in the Missouri Bootheel we could get close to one inch of rain. There’s generally less than half an inch of rain expected in the eastern third of the state over the next few days.”

Missouri’s Drought Assessment Committee said they plan to recommend to Missouri Governor Mike Parson to not renew the drought alert executive order that expires in early September.