Posted on May 9, 2022
Farmers in the Plains are in 'dire straits' due to drought, wildfire conditions
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Even with a few recent rains, much of the Great Plains are in a drought. Wildfires have swept across the grasslands and farmers are worried about how they’ll make it through the growing season.
Randy Uhrmacher is in his tractor, planting corn and soybeans in central Nebraska. But it’s hard to see his work. The soil is so dry that clouds of dust hang in the air as he drives through his fields.
“Not sure how I’m supposed to see what I’m doing tonight,” Uhrmacher said on a recent night of planting.
Even turning on the windshield wipers didn’t help him see through the dust storm. If he didn’t use soil conservation practices like reduced tillage and cover crops, he said his fields could look like something out of the 1930s Dust Bowl.
It’s the driest spring Uhrmacher can remember in his 38 years of farming.
Randy Uhrmacher is in his tractor, planting corn and soybeans in central Nebraska. But it’s hard to see his work. The soil is so dry that clouds of dust hang in the air as he drives through his fields.
“Not sure how I’m supposed to see what I’m doing tonight,” Uhrmacher said on a recent night of planting.
Even turning on the windshield wipers didn’t help him see through the dust storm. If he didn’t use soil conservation practices like reduced tillage and cover crops, he said his fields could look like something out of the 1930s Dust Bowl.
It’s the driest spring Uhrmacher can remember in his 38 years of farming.
Farmers in the Plains are in 'dire straits' due to drought, wildfire conditions
Posted from kcur.org
Farming
Agriculture
Water
Natural Disaster
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 3
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the center, said the harsh conditions follow an extremely dry winter in much of the Plains. A winter without much precipitation wasn’t surprising. The colder La Nina weather pattern is playing out in the Pacific Ocean this year, which often brings below-average precipitation levels to the United States.
But Fuchs said the dryness has exceeded expectations.
“We’re currently seeing a tremendous amount of drought,” he said. “And it’s getting to be more intense from South Dakota, down into Nebraska, Kansas and all the way into Texas.”
Recent rainfall in the region has toned down some of the alarm bells, but Fuchs said the showers still haven’t eliminated the drought conditions that have been building since October."...
..."Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the center, said the harsh conditions follow an extremely dry winter in much of the Plains. A winter without much precipitation wasn’t surprising. The colder La Nina weather pattern is playing out in the Pacific Ocean this year, which often brings below-average precipitation levels to the United States.
But Fuchs said the dryness has exceeded expectations.
“We’re currently seeing a tremendous amount of drought,” he said. “And it’s getting to be more intense from South Dakota, down into Nebraska, Kansas and all the way into Texas.”
Recent rainfall in the region has toned down some of the alarm bells, but Fuchs said the showers still haven’t eliminated the drought conditions that have been building since October."...
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not here this year, roads washed out and many acres underwater and more rain today and into the week
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