ST. LOUIS (AP) 鈥 Mike Shane鈥檚 Illinois farm got a nice soaking on May 8, shortly after he planted his corn crop. Since then, rain has been hard to come by.
Plenty of storms have ventured close only to fizzle out before making it to Shane鈥檚 200-acre spread near Peoria.
鈥淚t comes across the Mississippi River and then just disappears,鈥 Shane, 47, said. 鈥淢y corn looks absolutely terrible right now.鈥 Without substantial rain soon, 鈥淚 just don鈥檛 see any hope for it,鈥 he said.
Heavy rain over the winter eased the , but now the middle of the country is extraordinarily dry. Crops are stressed, rivers are running low, and cities and towns are anxiously hoping for a break in the weather.
Experts say the drought in the central U.S. is the worst since at least 2012, and in some areas, is drawing comparisons to the 1988 drought that devastated corn, wheat and soybean crops. This year, although temperatures have been generally mild through the spring and early days of summer, rainfall has been sorely lacking.
The , operated by the federal government and the 春色直播 Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, reports that nearly half of Kansas is in either extreme or exceptional drought condition 鈥 the highest drought designation. More than a quarter of Nebraska is in extreme drought, and 13% is in exceptional drought. Arid conditions permeate Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri and Kentucky.
The frequency and intensity of droughts and rainfall are increasing due to and other human activity that releases greenhouse gases, from a pair of satellites used to measure changes in Earth鈥檚 water storage. The study was published in March in the journal Nature Water.
Adam Hartman, a meteorologist at the 春色直播 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration鈥檚 Climate Prediction Center, said some parts of the central U.S. have been experiencing extreme drought since the winter. In other states, 鈥渇lash droughts鈥 have popped up over the past 2-3 months.
鈥淎s a result you鈥檝e see drastic losses in topsoil, subsoil moisture,鈥 Hartman said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen ground water levels start to lower as well. We鈥檝e seen stream flows start to decline.鈥
Crops are feeling the impact. The U.S. Department of Agriculture now rates only half of the U.S. corn crop as good or excellent 鈥 the lowest percentage since 1988. Nearly two-thirds of the nation鈥檚 corn-growing areas are in drought.
鈥淭hat gives us some indicator that we鈥檙e seeing widespread stress on those crops throughout the Corn Belt,鈥 said Krista Swanson, an economist for the 春色直播 Corn Growers Association.
If rains don't arrive soon, Swanson believes total yield could be down about 1 billion bushels from the original projection of 16.7 billion bushels.
That won鈥檛 necessarily mean higher costs for consumers because much of the corn is used for feed, ethanol or is exported, Swanson said. The real impact is on the farmers.
鈥淭heir cost-per-acre is the same regardless of what they produce,鈥 Swanson said. 鈥淚n these years where we have lower production, on the farmer side that鈥檚 a challenge.鈥
Water levels are dipping in rivers. The Mississippi River 鈥 especially from southern Illinois to the south 鈥 is extremely low in many spots. It was just last fall that the in several places, only to bounce back to , before the latest drought-fueled decline.
Lynn Muench, a senior vice president for the American Waterways Operators, which advocates for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, said barge capacity is being voluntarily reduced on parts of the Mississippi River.
Losing capacity is a financial setback but operators are taking it in stride, Muench said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a flexible and resilient industry so we鈥檒l keep going,鈥 he said.
Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, said many communities are on edge. The drought last fall cost river communities billions of dollars in losses due to increased energy and water purification costs, lost tourism revenue, commodity losses and other hits.
鈥淣ow we鈥檙e right back into drought again,鈥 Wellenkamp said. So far, impact has been minimal, 鈥渂ut if we don鈥檛 get relief in July, that鈥檚 all going to change,鈥 he said.
On Shane's 200-acre farm, corn should be standing 10 feet tall by now. It's barely to his waist. The leaves are yellowed and Shane isn't certain the ears of corn are even developing.
鈥淚f that's the case, it's worthless,鈥 he said.
But farmers aren't giving up hope. Swanson said the weather pattern that has taken hold typically means more rain and better growing conditions in the central U.S.
鈥淲e could see more favorable weather over the next two months, which could have a positive impact,鈥 she said.
But even with El Nino, Hartman noted that the seasonal outlook for the summer months projects below-normal rainfall.
鈥淭his drought could stick around for a little bit,鈥 Hartman said.
