Without Rain, Nebraska Farmers Are ‘Staring 2012 Conditions Square in the Face’

The U.S. Drought Monitor released its latest report Thursday, showing worsened drought conditions in Nebraska. According to the monitor, around 62% of the state is in severe or extreme drought. 

Eric Hunt, extension educator for Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said getting precipitation in the next 10 days to two weeks is critical. 

“If things don’t shape up here in the next two weeks, we’re staring at 2012-type conditions square in the face again,” Hunt said. “And I don’t mean to put that lightly, but I think that’s what we’re facing.” 

Compared to the May 8 report, the latest U.S. Drought Monitor showed a 17% increase in severe drought and a 5% increase in extreme drought for Nebraska. According to the release, about 13% of the state is in extreme drought, 50% is in severe drought, 35% is in moderate drought, and 2% is abnormally dry. 

Regional Breakdown

Hunt said the start of drought conditions in the state can be traced back five years. Drought conditions have developed differently in the panhandle region versus the eastern two-thirds of the state. 

“In the panhandle, things started going sideways about a year ago, and drought started becoming a problem last summer, got a little bit worse in the fall, and didn’t really get much improvement over the winter,” Hunt said. 

Drought conditions in the panhandle have affected winter wheat conditions, Hunt said. According to the most recent Crop Progress report, 46% of Nebraska’s winter wheat was rated poor/very poor.

“The wheat in the southern panhandle is horrendous, from what I understand,” Hunt said. “If they aren’t getting some moisture on that soon, it’s going to be a really poor yielding crop.”

How Farmers Are Combatting Drought

Hunt said the dry fall and scattered rains in the past month have led to worsening drought in the eastern two-thirds of the state. “Mother Nature isn’t delivering anything,” he said. These factors, combined with generally warm spring conditions and higher wind gusts, has led to some farmers west of Lincoln already running pivots. 

“It’s to try and get emergence. To say that’s not optimal is an understatement,” Hunt said. “That’s a significant expense they’re already having to incur just to get the crop to come up.” 

Hunt added, “Having to put on water two weeks before Memorial Day is really unusual. It’s causing a lot of anxiety and heartburn with regards to the expenses.” 

What’s Ahead?

Hunt said the odds are that drought conditions are going to worsen in Nebraska, calling the state the “epicenter” of drought in the north-central part of the country. 

“It certainly is possible that moisture will be adequate enough this summer that it won’t be a catastrophe, but there’s a lot of signals right now that are not good for improving drought conditions,” Hunt said. “Most of it would suggest things will get worse here.”