This past year will be re­membered as one of Iowa’s top 20 driest years on record in 151 years of statewide reporting as drought conditions have persisted for four years — 182 consecutive weeks of at least D1 moderate drought somewhere in the state.

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor, released last week, paints a bull’s-eye on the state with extreme drought conditions touching 52 counties in a horseshoe shape from west central Iowa to Des Moines, southeast to Bloomfield and Davis County, and then north to the Minnesota border encompassing Howard, Mitchell and Winneshiek counties.

The remainder of the state...