Dry turns to drought in part of Iowa

Even in a growing season characterized by too much rain in many parts of the state, the 'D” word re-emerged Thursday with a portion of Dubuque County being classified as in moderate drought in the latest iteration of the weekly U.S. Drought Monitor.

After a wet June, Dubuque has recorded slightly less than 1.5 inches of rain since July 1 - a deficit of 4.53 inches for the period, according to National Weather Service data.

The patch of moderate drought in the northeast quadrant of Dubuque County extends into parts of eight southwest Wisconsin counties and is surrounded in Iowa by a much larger 'abnormally dry” area that covers nearly all of Allamakee, Clayton and Dubuque counties and parts of Delaware, Fayette, Winneshiek and Chickasaw counties.

Dubuque County farmers are not 'extremely nervous” yet, but crops on lighter sandy soil are beginning to show signs of stress, said Jeff Pape, who raises corn and soybeans northeast of Dyersville.

'We're seeing leaf rolling in the soybeans, and parts of some fields look almost white in the afternoons,” Pape said.

August, he said, is a critical month for soybeans, which can put on several pods at the tops of the plants under favorable conditions.

Winneshiek County farmer Bob Hemesath, vice president of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, said his farm has received no rain for more than two weeks.

'We're still in good shape. Crops on good ground still look good, but if we don't start getting some rain, it's going to take yield off the top,” he said.

Corn, with its deeper root system, is tapping subsoil moisture and will withstand the drought better than shallow-rooted soybeans, said Brian Lang, northeast Iowa agronomist with Iowa State University Extension.

'We had full subsoil moisture going into July, and it can carry you a long way. If the dry spell continues, it will hurt beans more than corn,” he said.

A similarly sized portion of northwest Iowa is also considered abnormally dry.

Together, the two abnormally dry areas encompass 13.61 percent of the state.

Concerns for shallow groundwater levels could expand in northwest and into northeast Iowa unless above average rainfall occurs over the next month, state officials said in their monthly Water Summary Update issued Monday.

In California, 97.35 percent of the state is classified as in moderate or worse drought, with 46 percent of the state considered to be in exceptional drought.

Slight portions of northwest Iowa were considered in moderate drought as recently as the first week of May.

On this date three years ago, in the notorious drought of 2012, 100 percent of Iowa was considered in severe drought or worse and 62 percent was considered in extreme drought.