Drought

A big reason data from the Farm Journal Midwest Crop Tour is comparable to previous years is because of consistency. Scouts always travel the same routes, but pick fields at random. In South Dakota, scouts only take samples in the southeast corner of the state. But this year, the western and central portions of the state are facing drought.

When enrollment opened for the USDA disaster assistance programs this April, LaNelle Martin was one of the first to sign up at the Kimball County FSA office in Nebraska.

Federal officials have designated five Idaho counties as natural disaster areas due to recent drought conditions.

Livestock producers are eligible for USDA drought aid.

Some farmers may not participate if premiums are raised for the highest-income operations, as the Senate farm bill would do.

‘The real question is what happens in 2013, when the ethanol blending obligation increases to 13.8 billion gallons.” --Purdue University

The worst drought in a generation dramatically improves the chances that Congress will pass a farm bill this year that preserves some form of price supports.

The area of the Corn Belt with less rainfall than normal has expanded to cover 70% of the region, with more dry days ahead this week, QT Weather says.

Thousands of acres of wheat have been baled for feed in drought-stricken areas of North Dakota. Many farmers are abandoning small grains because the quality of the crops are not worth harvesting.

The historic 2012 drought is far from over, but it has at least subsided in parts of the country.