MANKATO — In the last week we’ve had just two-tenths of an inch of rain, according to precipitation reports.
“It’s a little dry out,” said Tom Hoverstad, scientist at the University of Minnesota’s Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca. “We’ve had six weeks in a row of less than normal precipitation.
“But on the plus side, it’s been good for harvest,” he said. “Soybean farmers have been able to go. A lot of them went from start to finish without interruption. Then on the downside, there’s been this dry air and a lot of dust that has resulted in some combine fires so that is a danger.”
Growers wouldn’t mind a little bit of rain, and those with perennial crops and trees need moisture.
Mankato is on the dividing line of drought conditions, said Peter Boulay with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources State Climatology Office.
“It’s really bad drought to the north and abnormally dry to the south,” he said. “Mankato is right on the edge. In Sibley County, conditions are worse.”
Sibley County is the only county in this region experiencing extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Nicollet, Watonwan and Le Sueur counties are experiencing a blend of severe and moderate drought, and Brown County is experiencing mostly severe drought conditions. Blue Earth County is partially abnormally dry and partially showing moderate drought conditions. Waseca county is abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“Let’s hope it rains,” Boulay said. “It’s been dry a while.”
“Our area locally here is definitely the driest I’ve seen since I’ve been working out of Sibley County,” said Joel Wurscher, district manager for Sibley Soil and Water. “There are areas that typically hold water that are all dried up. They are mud flats this year.”