The derecho and a drought are taking their toll on crop conditions as the ratings drop again over the course of the past week. According to the Iowa Drought Monitor, all of Carroll and Audubon Counties, the majority of Guthrie and Greene and about two-thirds of Calhoun and Sac Counties are now classified as D3, in extreme drought conditions. The majority of western Iowa is in the moderate to severe drought ranges of D1 and D2 while the remainder of the state is mostly abnormally dry. The only areas not considered moisture stressed are the extreme lower section of the state and isolated areas on the eastern border. Weather experts have reported that the derecho on Aug. 10 did little to alleviate the drought conditions. The Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report for the week ending Aug. 16 shows that 20 percent of the topsoil moisture conditions across Iowa rate very short while 36 percent are short. The high winds on Monday damaged grain storage as well as crops in the fields across a good portion of the state, resulting in a 10 percentage point drop of the corn condition rating to 59 percent good to excellent. Soybeans fell to a 62 percent good to excellent rating. These are the lowest levels seen this season. The full crop report can be found at nass.usda.gov/ia.
