After weeks of record-breaking warmth and dry conditions across Iowa, a round of heavy moisture is moving across the state — offering some relief to farmers who have been watching soil conditions closely.
Locally, February temperatures have climbed above 60 degrees over the past 10 days, paired with persistent winds and very little precipitation. The result: what experts describe as a snow drought — a winter marked by low snowpack due to warm or dry conditions.
That’s Iowa State University Extension Field Agronomist Angie Rieck-Hinz. Unlike steady snow cover that slowly melts and recharges soil moisture, this winter’s pattern left many fields exposed and drying earlier than normal. Rieck-Hinz says soils were noticeably dry in recent weeks, with some strip-till fields lacking moisture several inches down.
While planting is still weeks away, she says conditions in the next several weeks will ultimately determine how fields shape up for spring.
