Statewide Iowa – The weather is warming and the tractors are chugging away as Iowa farmers are starting the planting season. Angie Rieck Hinz, a field agronomist with the Iowa State University Extension, says she’s seeing plenty of activity this week in the northern part of the state.
Forecasters say much of the state will see high temperatures this weekend in the 70s and 80s. That’s some 20 degrees warmer than normal.
The new map released Thursday by the Iowa Drought Monitor shows slight improvements in all categories, though there’s still a big splotch of red in northeast and east-central Iowa — as 32-percent of the state remains under severe or extreme drought. Rieck Hinz says, as always, rain will be key in the success of this next crop.
The short-term forecast calls for rain late Monday and much of Tuesday.
