Drought Conditions Worsening In County, State
Crawford County is getting drier as a lack of precipitation is worsening drought conditions.
According to the latest data from the United States Drought Monitor, the county has moved from being in a moderate drought to a severe drought.
The data was updated July 4.
Data shows that on June 27, about 60 percent of the county was considered to be in a severe drought, the worst since July 2012.
Nearly 99 percent of Missouri is now experiencing some sort of drought, up from 93 percent just two weeks ago.
Eighty percent is in a moderate drought, 54 percent is in a severe drought and almost 25 percent is experiencing extreme drought.
The drought is worst in central and northeast Missouri, along with Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois and Perry counties.
Conditions have led to Missouri’s representatives and senators penning a later to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to open Conservation Reseve Program lands for emergency haying.
"Over 80 percent of Missouri is currently experiencing at least a moderate drought, with more than half the state in a severe drought, and 20 percent suffering under extreme drought conditions. These conditions have left Missouri farmers and ranchers with few remaining options to feed their livestock through the winter until CRP lands are opened to haying," they wrote.
The members said due to drought conditions for much of the growing season, available forage in pastures and hay crop yields “are far below typical for our state.”
Members say farmers and ranchers fed hay to livestock in June, “long before Missouri farmers typically begin feeding hay in November.”
The members contend that acres in the CRP “remain a largely untapped emergency relief valve.”
Prices could rise as a result of the drought. The University of Missouri Extension said most hay fields have produced only a quarter to a half of their normal yield.
According to St. Louis Public Radio, the drought has persisted because the region “lacks southern winds that transport moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.”