Nebraska Extension drought workshop helps producers deal with drought conditions

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – The Nebraska Extension hosted a workshop Wednesday morning for ag producers, focusing on how to use drought monitoring and forecasting tools, assess drought impacts and risks, explore management strategies, and identify available resources.

Organizers say the goal is to help producers make more informed, timely decisions as changing weather patterns continue to affect soil moisture, crop conditions, and long-term planning.

The session also highlighted practical tools farmers can use to track drought development and adjust operations before conditions worsen.

“The really warm temperatures and strong wind just sucked the moisture out of the soil, out of the vegetation and this has been going on since at least October and were not going to come out of it over the night, it’s going to take a while to rebuild those moisture supplies even if we get average moisture it will be enough for vegetation but it won’t helped us recover what we’ve already lost,” said Deborah Bathke, Nebraska state climatologist.

Officials add that continued education and early planning are key to helping producers stay resilient through increasingly variable growing seasons.

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