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Drought conditions taking toll in central Minnesota

A farmer in central Minnesota says heat and dryness is taking a toll.

Speaking to Brownfield during Farmfest last week, Carolyn Olson of Cottonwood said her area is desperate for rain.

“But yet we’re not in the worst of the drought situation in Minnesota. A good rain without a lot of wind would be really great.”

Olson, who serves as vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, says the heat index eclipsed 105 degrees last Tuesday.

“It was amazing, between my trip into Farmfest and home yesterday how much the crop deteriorated during the day.”

Olson says a lot of the corn was shrinking and she saw a sugarbeet field that was completely wilted.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of central Minnesota in moderate to severe drought.