In 2011, Missouri experienced its worst drought season since the 1950s, causing a shortage of grains and lowering the quality of feed for livestock.
By Dalton Barker
Extension Climatologist at the University of Missouri Pat Guinan says the impact was felt hardest in the western part of Missouri.
“Some locations in that part of the state saw less than an inch of rain in sixty days,” said Guinan
Associate Professor of Soil Scence at Missouri, Randall Miles, says the drought will have lasting effects on the state.
“The forage that we need has been severly depleted, as well as the quality has been lowered,” Miles said.
However, Guinan says consumers, farmers and livestock owners could benefit from a winter with little frost, but he also says that rainfall this year will be critical to yields and consumer prices going forward.