Areas of drought in the Southwest and northern Plains may merge in coming months across the southern and northern Plains, warns USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey.
Speaking at USDA’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum, Rippey noted that precipitation eased pressure on the winter wheat crop after 60% of the production area was in drought during planting and the crop establishment season.
He said there was a “very wet November in many of the southern production areas that erased drought from Kansas, Oklahoma and much of Texas.”
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The U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook through May forecasts persistent drought in the Southwest and northern Plains, with drought spreading from the Texas panhandle northward into Kansas.
“We could see drought development, maybe bridging those two drought areas across the central and southern Great Plains,” Rippey said.
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