Severe or exceptional drought consumed many counties in the South Plains and Texas Panhandle, persisting with 222 counties, including Castro County, across the state under burn bans, and crops and cattle suffering in the midst of high heat and lack of rain.
Of the top 18 corn growing states, D4 exceptional drought is now present in the four – Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado – according to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC).
Total drought acreage in the lower 48 states declined this week to 50.11%. That means 234.3 million acres of crops are experiencing drought conditions, according to the National Integrated Drought Information System.