Dry conditions impacting crops in many areas

South Dakota began grappling with abnormal weather trends before the summer even started.

Since the beginning of June, the U.S. Drought Monitor has reported drought conditions worsening with each week. While the past few days brought some much-needed rain, the drought has yet to fully recede.

Laura Edwards, the South Dakota State Climatologist, said although the melting snow replenished the ground’s moisture, the dryness that came in the spring was harmful for crops.

“Given that those two months, May and June, are typically our wettest time of the year, much of our agriculture was affected by the shortage of rainfall in the season, where we don’t have a lot of irrigation, you know, in much of South Dakota to really mitigate or, you know, be able to reduce the impact of that dry season,” she said.

Edwards said as of last week, about 40% of the state was experiencing drought, and about another 40% faced unusual dryness.

The Drought Monitor shows the worst conditions west of Yankton, where several counties are facing “extreme drought.” However, even just abnormal dryness can have a significant impact on crops and livestock.

Edwards said for small grain crops like wheat, it might already be too late to recover the harvest. However, although stunted, soybeans and corn might be able to pull through with enough rain.

Heather Gessner, a livestock business management field specialist with SDSU extension in Sioux Falls, said some farmers might only get 50-75% of their crop. However, it could have been worse.

“I think we were calling this last rain in my area a million-dollar to a billion-dollar rain for the guys that got it,” she said. “Because they were on kind of a threshold of if it doesn’t rain and if there’s not rain in the forecast, for the next couple of days, things were getting pretty tight.”

Luckily, with the bit of rainfall the state received, things could be looking up. The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly update showed improvements in most South Dakota counties.

Edwards thinks there could still be a chance to rejuvenate the crops that are not quite past their prime.

“You know, looking out ahead into July, it does look more promising for more precipitation, so, I’m hoping, you know kinda hoping, crossing fingers, that’s enough to get the corn and soybean crop you know back to kind of where we typically expect for that time of year,” she said.

Despite having an unusually dry spring and early summer, there is still hope that future rainfall will alleviate the impacts of the drought.