By Jason Vance

The USDA has released the final edition of the U.S. Drought Monitor for the month of July, which has mostly good news except on the Western front.

“We have just a shade over 31 percent of the Continental United States in drought down about one-point-four percent points from what was seen at the beginning of July,” said USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey.

However Rippey says it is different story in the Western states as more than two-thirds of the eleven state region, 67 percent, is experiencing drought, which is up from 64.5 percent at the beginning of July.

The disparity is reflected within drought coverage of various crops and commodities. There has been minimal drought concern in the Midwest in the middle of crop growing season.

“That has gotten even better with ample moisture across many of our key production areas,” Rippey said. “We are looking at some pretty incredibly low numbers for drought coverage in the Midwest, specifically for corn. Only seven percent of the U.S. corn production area is experiencing drought. Soybeans even lower with just five percent of the overall U.S. production area.”

That is compared to twelve percent of corn areas and eight percent of soybean areas at the start of the month.

Drought coverage is also limited in total for cattle and hay production areas. Rippey says hay areas are down two percentage points from twenty to eighteen percent and the U.S. cattle in drought going from eighteen percent down to fourteen percent.

Drought impacts in the Northern Plains and Pacific Northwest are behind drought coverage increases for spring planted crops in the country.

Rippey says 38 percent of the U.S. spring wheat production area is in drought compared to early June, which saw just nineteen percent, so drought has double in spring wheat production areas.