The possibility of another year of drought in the state worries Gov. Dave Heineman and others who shared their concerns during the annual convention of the Nebraska Farmers Union.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) - The possibility of another year of drought in the state worries Gov. Dave Heineman and others who shared their concerns during the annual convention of the Nebraska Farmers Union.
Nebraska is the most irrigated state in the nation for crop production, and that helped the state manage the drought, Heineman said Friday at the convention in Grand Island. But soil moisture throughout much of the state has been drastically depleted, raising concerns about what will happen to Nebraska's crops and pastures if drought continues over the winter into next summer, The Grand Island Independent (http://bit.ly/VFy7O4 ) reported.
"What I really worry about is what is going to happen next year," Heineman said. "I think there is going to be a great deal of tension if we don't get enough moisture, between agriculture users of water resources, businesses and cities."
John Pollack, a retired meteorologist for the National Weather Service, also spoke and predicted that the weather extremes Nebraska has seen during the last two years - which included severe flooding in 2011, followed by record drought this year - are going to become more common.
"I am expecting that the Corn Belt will not be in Nebraska in 50 years," Pollack said. "That is because we will have enough global warming that it is going to push the area that is favorable for corn farther north, because it is going to be too susceptible to early season heat and drought to allow the growing of corn - and quite possibly soybeans."
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Information from: The Grand Island Independent, http://www.theindependent.com
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