July was a harsh month for farmers in the southern part of the country, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The percent of U.S. land area experiencing exceptional drought, the highest rank in the drought monitor, was the largest in the history of the monitor in the month of July. The rankings range from abnormal dryness to moderate, severe, extreme and exceptional drought.
The most recent report classified 59 percent of the United States as drought-free with 41 percent having anywhere from abnormal dryness to exceptional drought.
While this summer has been hot, Brian Fuchs, a climatologist at the National Drought Mitigation Center, said the hot weather in July actually began about 10 months ago with La Nina, a cooling of water in the Pacific.
Texas, in particular, has been hit hard.
"What's unique in this situation is that it's about the entire state of Texas," Fuchs said.
Normally, it would only be parts of Texas that would see some drought, he said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor shows that currently, Texas has 73.49 percent of its land ranking exceptional on the monitor's scale with only 0.07 percent having no drought conditions.
According to the monitor, 92.24 percent of Nebraska has no drought condition with about 7.76 percent with abnormal dryness.
"Nebraska as a state overall has had a good year in terms of precipitation," Fuchs said.
Nebraska has seen hot and humid temperatures with a fair amount of rain.
"It's a warm stretch in a typical Nebraska summer," Fuchs said.
However, agriculture has still been affected by flooding and the hot temperatures.
Keith Glewen, an extension educator at UNL, said farmers are already seeing some loss of yields in crops like corn.
"It's not a perfect growing season," he said. "Let's put it that way."
This is because the hot temperatures at night aren't good for the corn, Glewen said.
"The heat will take its toll on crops in Nebraska," he said. "This week and last week will have an effect on corn yield especially."
Glewen said there wasn't anything the farmers could really do about the weather.
He said it was possible for the temperatures to cool down and save some of the yield that could be lost.
If the weather continues, Glewen said it could affect another major cash crop in Nebraska — soybeans.
"It's unfortunate for everybody because we're all dependent on food," he said. "It's affecting everybody."
kimbuckley@dailynebraskan.com
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