Drought map of Missouri as of Sep. 23, 2025 (The U.S. Drought Monitor is jointly produced by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Map courtesy of NDMC.)

Some minor improvements were seen in this week’s US Drought Monitor for our area.

The weekly update, posted Thursday, Sept. 25, shows abnormally dry conditions no longer present in central and eastern Livingston as well as western Linn counties. Otherwise, no changes were seen for our region, with moderate drought conditions continuing in western Johnson and Lafayette counties, as well as all of Benton, Moniteau, Morgan, most of Cooper, and southern Pettis counties. The worst drought conditions in Missouri remain in the Bootheel, which is in the second week of extreme drought conditions.

All told, 93.52% of Missouri in drought or abnormal dryness. That breaks down to 3.59% in extreme drought, 18.81% in severe drought, 41.62% in moderate drought, and 29.50% in abnormal dryness.

The recent drought monitor, which indicates conditions as of Tuesday, Sept. 23, comes as Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe issued an executive order declaring a drought emergency, opening up resources for farmers and ranchers to mitigate conditions.