MILWAUKEE — Even after Wisconsin got more rain this week after Tuesday’s new drought monitor showed conditions are improving in some of the driest parts of our state, experts say with the harvest on the horizon, it’s too little, too late for certain crops.

“It is, but that doesn’t mean the rain isn’t needed,” said Kevin Krentz, president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. “We need rain for our subsoil and our subsurface moistures to continue to build up again for next year.”

While this summer’s drought took a toll on farms statewide, the impact of those conditions should be less than what it might have been years ago.

“You really have to look at the differences in tillage practices that farmers have put into play over the last decade or more,” Krentz said. “That is much different than 30 or 40 years ago when we had these drought conditions before.”

Watch the full interview above.