The most recent U.S. Drought Monitor showed that all of Illinois is experiencing dry or drought conditions. In western Illinois, the amount of land in severe drought conditions spread.
As drying conditions spread across the state, Technical Agronomist Lance Tarchione shares how this year compares to the famous droughts of 1988 and 2012.
“This year is nothing like ‘88 or 2012 from a global weather pattern standpoint,” said Tarchione. “Unfortunately, the end result for us is still the same– it’s really dry. We actually have had less rain since planting this year than we did in either of those two famous drought years. Now the total precipitation we have received this year from January 1 to today is about three inches more than we got in ‘88 or 2012.”
Tarchione adds that February and March rain helped area farmers go into the planting season with “pretty good” subsoil moisture which has helped maintain crops, even with the drying conditions.
