PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – There are varying degrees of drought conditions in the Plains region, but a National Weather Service hydrologist says predicted above-normal rain this spring might ease some of the problem. Mike Gillispie in Sioux Falls expects improvement in parts of Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Some people in the agriculture industry and with municipal water supplies are still wary.
Nathan Fields with the National Corn Growers Association says that during the 2012 drought, he learned how quickly it can set in and affect crop production. Parts of eastern South Dakota are abnormally dry. The stretch from southern Minnesota and Iowa through Nebraska is facing moderate drought. Conditions worsen toward the south, as parts of Texas and Oklahoma are in the middle of an ongoing drought. There’s no drought in North Dakota.