(Le Mars)– Updated information from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach shows subsoil moisture deficits in northwest Iowa are worsening. Gentry Sorenson, an ISU Extension field agronomist, says subsoil moisture is well below average all of the sites in northwest Iowa they monitor.
Sorenson says there was intensification of the D3 drought classification, or extreme drought, in southern Palo Alto, northern Pocahontas, northern Buena Vista and southern Clay counties.
Leah Ten Napel, also an ISU Extension and Outreach field agronomist, says Iowa soils have the potential to hold from 10 to 11 inches of moisture in the top five feet. She says the moisture readings this fall are well below historical averages and below those in the fall of 2021.
