After a wet start to the 2010 growing season, two areas of dryness have persisted in the last 60 days (see map below). The first area is far southern Illinois, where dry conditions extend back to June. The second, more recent area is in east-central Illinois. The hardest hit area appears to include parts of the following counties: McLean, Ford, Livingston, Iroquois, and Kankakee. Rainfall in that area has been between 25 and 75 percent of normal. Meanwhile, temperatures during that same period have run about 2.5 degrees above normal.
As expected, topsoil moisture in east-central Illinois has declined rapidly in recent weeks. According to the latest USDA NASS report, the “East” Crop Reporting District (CRD) in the heart of the dry area is showing that 35% of the fields sampled had “very short” and 48% of the fields had “short” topsoil moisture.
In southern Illinois, the percentages of fields with “very short” to “short” topsoil moisture are as follows:
- East Southeast CRD: 16 % “very short” and 43% “short”
- Southwest CRD: 17% “very short” and 65% “short”
- Southeast CRD: 66% “very short” and 12% “short”
