Drought conditions have been persistent throughout the state all summer.

State Climatologist Justin Glisan says that even with the dry weather, crops aren’t doing as bad as some might think. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio why fields are showing resiliency.

“Hybridizations have created more drought resistant crops. But we’ve also seen timely rainfall through the growing season that have held the crop on. Now, there have been pockets of the state and there are pockets of the state in which farmers are chopping silage right now, because the corn is just burned up. We’ve seen this in southern Iowa and parts of northeastern Iowa.”

Glisan mentions that hay quality has suffered though, along with how much has been produced. He adds that this July was on average a one and a half degrees cooler than usual, and that July is an important month in the growing cycle for corn, because that’s when it is putting out tassels, and being pollinated. Glisan explains that with the slightly cooler weather, conditions were very ideal for corn to grow, even with how dry things were.