A streak of abnormally hot and dry weather last week led to declines in the conditions of Iowa’s corn and soybean crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The weather conditions also stifled pastures used for feeding livestock. Less than a quarter of the state’s pasture land is in good or excellent condition.

“Some livestock producers have been hauling water and feeding hay to their cattle in the continued dry conditions,” the USDA reported on Monday. “Intense heat this week brought a lot of stress to livestock with some feedlots experiencing death loss.”

Those struggles with drought have led to relaxed restrictions on land that is enrolled in federal conservation programs. Typically, crop and pasture land in the Conservation Reserve Program cannot be used for agriculture, but the USDA is allowing hay cutting or grazing in nearly half of the state’s counties because of the dry conditions.

The U.S. Drought Monitor predicted this week that drought will lift from much of Iowa in August but that drought will persist across northern and northeast Iowa.

The Drought Monitor’s most recent analysis last week of the state’s dryness — which did not include the streak of exceptionally hot days — showed that areas of drought had slightly expanded from the previous week. A new report is expected Thursday.

About 83% of the state is suffering from some measure of drought, and the rest of Iowa is abnormally dry, the Drought Monitor said.

Parts of Iowa averaged more than 6 degrees above normal last week, and Keokuk notched the highest temperature of 101 degrees on Friday, State Climatologist Justin Glisan reported.

Collectively, the state averaged about 5 degrees above normal and less than half of the typically expected rainfall.

“A large-scale ridge that brought oppressive heat across the south over the last weeks lifted into the Midwest early in the reporting period,” Glisan said of this past week. “Iowans experienced several days of unseasonably hot temperatures and a stifling triple-digit heat index.”

As a result of those conditions, the share of Iowa’s corn crop that is rated good or excellent fell to 59% from 63% the week before.

About 55% of soybeans are rated good or excellent, compared with 58% a week ago.

Only 23% of the state’s pasture land is rated good or excellent.

“As the calendar turns to August, cooler temperatures and more widespread rain chances return to the forecast,” said Mike Naig, the state’s agriculture secretary.

Source - https://iowacapitaldispatch.com