As of Nov. 29, 80% of the U.S. was experiencing abnormal dryness/drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, down two percentage points from the previous week. Drought improvement was most pronounced in Texas and Missouri.
Heading into dormancy, USDA estimated 74% of the winter wheat crop was experiencing drought, down one percentage point from the previous week but 22 points greater than last year.
In HRW areas, dryness/drought covers 84% of Colorado (unchanged), 100% of Kansas (unchanged), 88% of Montana (unchanged), 100% of Nebraska (unchanged), 100% of Oklahoma (unchanged), 100% of South Dakota (unchanged) and 74% of Texas (down 13 points).
In SRW areas, dryness/drought covers 81% of Missouri (down 7 points), 81% of Illinois (unchanged), 98% of Indiana (unchanged), 73% of Ohio (down 3 points), 42% of Michigan (up 3 points), 100% of Kentucky (up 1 point) and 98% of Tennessee (up 1 point).