Portions of Fayette and Bremer counties have progressed into the severe drought category according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report for Iowa.
Based on precipitation through 7 am Tuesday (06.06), a southwest corner of Fayette County and almost a third of southeast Bremer County have gone from D1/moderate drought into D2/severe drought. The rest of Bremer County and central two-thirds of Fayette County are both still in the moderate drought category.
Southern tiers of Floyd and Chickasaw counties as well as two-thirds of Butler County are also now in the D1 drought category. The remaining areas off all three counties, plus the northern third of Fayette County and all of Winneshiek, Franklin, Cerro Gordo and Worth counties, are rated as abnormally dry.
Mitchell and Howard counties are in the best shape, with about three-quarters of each county having no drought concerns and small sections considered abnormally dry.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig was in northeast Iowa Thursday and said while more rain is definitely needed, the dry weather was to the advantage of farmers early in the growing season.
According to the National Weather Service in Lacrosse, precipitation deficits have grown into the 2-to-7-inch range in northeast Iowa since the growing season began on April 1st. To further enhance the dry conditions, the NWS says temperatures averaged 3-to-6 degrees warmer than normal from May 25th through June 7th.
