Eau Claire (WQOW) - Farmers
across the state, and across the country, are in a pinch. Drought conditions
have damaged crops and threatened the corn harvest for this year. Some parts of
the state are faring better than others.
"We consider the
state divided up basically into three tiers," says Department of Agriculture
Program Supervisor Dave Hansen.
From Baraboo south to the Illinois border, that area
is in a severe drought.
"From Highway 33 to
about Highway 10 which is about the middle part of the state, that is moderate
drought," Hansen.
Everything north of there, including
the Eau Claire
area, is dry, but crops are doing well, for now.
"I guess everything
kind of depends on how long and how mature and how far along the crops were, so
you're probably okay for a while, but they are going to need some rain during
the actual filling of the ear," Hansen says.
Wisconsin isn't alone. The National Climatic
Data Center
says the U.S.
is in the midst of the worst drought in 56 years.
"As of today, 1.297
counties have been designated as secretarial disaster areas, that's
approximately a third of the counties of the United States. 61% of the land mass
in the United States
is currently being characterized as being impacted by this drought," says Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack.
Here in Wisconsin, farmers who lose their crops
because of the drought, could face a double whammy.
"A lot of our grain
produced here in the state of Wisconsin is used for animal feed or livestock
feed so it will translate into people needing to buy corn, who have the availability
to buy corn, it will be more pricey," Hansen says.
Rain is needed, but it has to be the
right kind of rain.
"If we get these
hard storms that go through the ground so hard now and crack in a lot of places
that it won't soften. That's hard crust on top, it will act like cement and run
off. We need something to loosen up the soil first, some gentle rain days,"
says Hansen.
Some parts
of the state did see some rain today, but it wasn't enough to offset the
extreme heat and dry conditions over the past few weeks.
