Drought conditions persist throughout Iowa, now worst since March 2013

Overall dryness in Iowa has expanded amid unrelenting heat and a lack of rainfall and is now worse than it’s been since March 2013, according to a report last week by the U.S. Drought Monitor. “With persistent hot and dry conditions, Iowa is at 166 consecutive weeks of at least moderate drought,” Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said in a news release. “Now that Labor Day is behind us, we can expect to see farmers ramping up their pre-harvest preparations as crop conditions are variable and rain chances remain...