State sees substantial improvement in drought conditions as harvesting continues

The state has seen a substantial improvement in drought conditions over the past few weeks as farmers continue harvesting corn, potatoes and other crops. 

The percentage of Wisconsin experiencing extreme drought — the second-worst category — has fallen from 22% in early September to just 6.8%, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System website. 

The lingering areas of extreme drought are located in the state’s northern and southwestern regions. 

At the same time, the share of the state under exceptional drought warning has fallen from 2.4% to none, the NIDIS site shows. That category is reserved for the driest possible conditions. 

In descending order of severity, 31% of the state remains in the severe drought category, while 43.1% is under moderate drought and 17.1% is abnormally dry. 

And though 3.4 million Wisconsin residents live in areas of drought, that number has declined 6.1% since last week. 

Heavy rains over the past week improved soil moisture levels and pasture conditions, though they also limited fieldwork, according to the USDA’s latest crop progress report. Farmers in Wisconsin are busy with harvesting corn for grain and silage, planting winter wheat and cutting hay, the report shows. 

Harvesting of corn for silage was 68% complete as of Sunday, which is five days ahead of last year’s rate and one day ahead of the five-year average. 

Meanwhile, 72% of the state’s potato crop had been harvested — five days ahead of last year and four days ahead of the average. 

And the season’s fourth cutting of alfalfa was 92% complete, which is two days behind last year but 15 days ahead of the average. 

See the USDA figures: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wisconsin/Publications/Crop_Progress_&_Condition/2023/WI-Crop-Progress-10-02-23.pdf 

See the NIDIS site: https://www.drought.gov/states/wisconsin 

–By Alex Moe