News
Drought in Nebraska forcing farmers to implement not traditional methods
The drought in the Western Corn Belt is intensifying, and an agronomist says farmers may have to think outside the box to plant crops this year.
Thomas Miller with Collins Ag Service and Pfeiffer Seeds covers South-Central Nebraska. “You might have to break up the ground before you plant or you might have to run your pivot just to get some moisture because you can’t put farm implement in soil like this and it could get damaged really easily.”
Miller tells Brownfield the area received some snow over the weekend, but it won’t provide much relief. “I really couldn’t think of the last time we had really good moisture in our area.”
He says some farmers have started spring field work, but dryness has created challenges. “It’s just not working well. I talked to a farmer last week, he didn’t want to put a piece of farm equipment in the field just because it’s so dry. It could start a spark and it could start the whole field on fire before he knows it.”
The latest drought monitor showed that area of the state is in severe drought with all of Nebraska in a classification of drought.
