By Blake Jackson
Missouri farmers are battling an ongoing drought as extreme weather patterns — including snowstorms, tornado warnings, and fires — sweep across the region. Despite some rain, over 50% of the state remains abnormally dry, with pockets of moderate and severe drought.
“Right now we are going into the growing season, and we still have about 50% of the state that is at least abnormally dry, we even have some moderate and severe drought across the state, and we could be looking at a fourth year of drought,” said state climatologist Zack Leasor.
Winter droughts also harm wildlife, pushing deer to feed on farm crops due to limited food sources. Although Missouri's yearly rainfall totals have remained steady, flash droughts — sudden, intense dry periods — are increasing. These quick droughts worsen crop stress and soil dryness.
Groundwater, which normally replenishes during winter, has struggled due to windy, low-absorption rainfalls. Combined with rising temperatures, this has led to higher evapotranspiration rates, meaning more water remains in the atmosphere instead of nourishing the soil.
Farmers like the Thies family face both immediate and long-term impacts. In dry years, yields drop even if quality improves. “We were noting that today when we had to go pick up our onions and seeing where grass fires have started along I-70 and said well, it's still dry,” said Paula Thies. “It looks green, but the moisture down in the ground is not there.”
Experts believe the increasing unpredictability of weather will make farming even more challenging in the future. “It's not only the extremes, but the difficulty in predicting them," said Leasor. "It makes for an unpredictable growing season, and so there's always a lot of not just economic impacts from when we actually see a farm get hurt by drought or maybe a hail storm comes through, but there's also just this yearly uncertainty."
Photo Credit: gettyimages-zhuda
Categories: Missouri, Weather