Dry conditions and unseasonably late temperatures have only added to the poor moisture content of the ground across much of Iowa.

Iowa State University Extension Field Agronomist Mike Witt tells Raccoon Valley Radio where the moisture content of two soil levels are at.

“If you look at some of those soil moistures, we are right now, if you look at the Iowa Drought Monitor, in a D2 Drought. But with those moisture levels in the topsoil, we are probably about 70-percent to 80-percent short to very short in that category. And then if you look at the subsurface moisture, which is below that topsoil layer there, we as well are in about 86-90-percent in a short to very short category across the area of West Central Iowa.”

Witt explains that while this can be detrimental to crops and other plant life once spring comes back around, if conditions are right throughout the winter and early spring, we could see those moisture levels rise. He mentions that slow rains would be ideal, that way the ground has time to absorb the precipitation before it runs off into ditches and streams, and that once there is snow on the ground, slow melts will be what helps introduce that moisture into the soil as well.

Witt says that for the most part, farmers are finished in the fields, with any that are still harvesting most likely finishing up their corn. He adds that many have also started to apply fertilizers as well, even if the temperatures have been higher than what farmers would like them to be.