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Drought conditions top of mind as farmers ease into the planting season

Some midwestern farmers are battling Mother Nature as they head into the planting season, according to Brownfield meteorologist Greg Soulje.

“Dryness and drought still is the story over many areas of the Western Corn Belt,” he says. “We’ve seen some modest improvement in the eastern sections of the Winter Wheat Belt, but when you get to the Dakotas in the corn palace area up across the Dakotas centered around the upper Missouri Valley there’s extreme drought there.”

He says conditions will allow farmers to continue early season fieldwork.

“Ongoing dryness and drought pattern shows no sign of completely coming to an end especially in those Western and Northwestern Corn Belt and Northern and Central Plains States areas,” he says.

Soulje says soil moisture levels will vary throughout the Corn Belt.