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Observed · Sioux County · July 5, 2026

Sioux County's Drought Risk Eased Sharply Before Pollination

D1 coverage fell 29.04 percentage points in one week. That does not erase crop risk, but it changes which questions lenders, operators, and insurers should ask now.

D1 coverage
54.18% → 25.14%
One-week change
−29.04 percentage points
Source date
June 30, 2026

The signal

For eight consecutive weeks, more than half of Sioux County was classified in Moderate Drought (D1). On the June 30 map, D1 coverage fell from 54.18% to 25.14% - the county’s largest one-week improvement of the season.

This is an observed change in the federal drought series. It is not a yield forecast, and it does not mean drought risk is gone. It means the geographic footprint of moderate drought contracted materially at a consequential point in the crop calendar.

Who should care

Ag lenders and crop insurers should update borrower conversations that still assume the prior week’s drought footprint. Operators should compare the county-level improvement with their own rainfall, soil moisture, and field conditions before changing production or marketing decisions.

The practical opportunity is not to declare an all-clear. It is to identify where an improved moisture picture changes working-capital risk, crop-condition monitoring, or the timing of follow-up conversations.

Verify it yourself

Open the U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics service and query Iowa county FIPS 19167 for the weeks ending June 23 and June 30, 2026. Compare the percentage of county area classified as D1 or worse. No API key is required.

Claim discipline: the coverage change is Observed. Any effect on yield, credit quality, crop-insurance outcomes, or commodity decisions remains Possible until supported by field-level and market evidence.