Urbana’s dry crop Season

Dry heat, dead crops, and ugly brown lawns were only a few effects of the record breaking drought this summer that swept all over the Midwest.
While some cases were more severe, like the city of Decatur’s strict restrictions on water usage, the drought still effected residents of Urbana, Illinois this summer, where the entire month of June 2012 produced only .09 inches of rain.
This lack of precipitation could be seen simply by walking past lawns around town.
What started as a short dry spell in June dragged on and on to become one of the most severe droughts since the famous “Dust Bowl” or “Dirty Thirties” that struck the Midwest in the 1930’s.
Max Dragoo, an Urbana High School Junior experienced this in his own yard. “My entire lawn turned an ugly light brown color, and the grass became rough. It looked almost like a desert,” Dragoo said.
Even the Golf Course at the Urbana Country Club lost its green color, and the texture was not ideal for golfing. Champaign-Urbana and surrounding communities made it through the drought in good shape, for the most part due to our water source, which is an aquifer in Mahomet.
Other communities, such as Decatur, were not as fortunate. The city of Decatur passed water restrictions that went into effect on July 25, limiting things like how often you can water your garden, athletic fields, or wash your car. Washing of automobiles was banned except for local car wash businesses.
As the drought dragged on, the city released even stricter water restrictions on August 9, 2012. These restrictions banned car washing of any kind, even at local businesses, and the watering of lawns, athletic field grass, and golf course grass was also banned.
The operation of outdoor and indoor water fountains was prohibited, with the exception of outdoor water fountains.
Perhaps the people affected most by the drought were farmers.
Illinois drivers have probably noticed that the corn by the side of the highways looks very sick and dry. Many crops died this year, and farmers lost money as a result.
Mike Mcnett, a farmer and grandfather of two UHS students, felt the effects of the drought at his farm in Ogle County, Illinois.
“The cattle did fine through the drought, but even the rain from Hurricane Isaac didn’t do much to help the beans and the corn,” said McNett.
He went on to say that this was the worst drought he has experienced as a farmer but his father told him stories of the 1930s when conditions were so bad that the seeds didn’t even germinate.
“We usually yield around 150 bushels an acre or more, but this year we’ll be lucky if we even yield 100,” said McNett.
After the rain from Hurricane Isaac, the grass has gotten some of its green color back, but the drought of 2012 will surely live on in the memories of many in Midwest for years to come.