'Roll the dice and say your prayers': Iowa farmers continue to deal with drought conditions

The dry conditions in Iowa are impacting farmers across the state. Norine Black has been farming corn for more than 50 years in Ames. The stalks bloomed, but she says this season has been a challenge. They planted 25 acres of corn. Much of the soil at the farm is dry. That's why she has to spend thousands of dollars to irrigate. The goal is to reach an inch of water on every crop a week. Norine and her husband Duane lived through a lot of challenges from mother nature over the years, including a derecho. Besides the dry weather this year, the farmer also had to deal with higher diesel prices, forcing them to increase how much they charge customers. "You roll the dice and you say your prayers and do your rain dance, and here we go. We spent quite a bit of money on our irrigation so that we could at least guarantee that we would bring water to the crops. That, of course, takes more cost," said Norine. Despite the unknown, Norine loves what she does. At 70 years old, she says farming is what keeps her young.Meanwhile, drought conditions have improved slightly, shown in the July 6 Drought Monitor.Southeast Iowa and the far western edge of the state are still the driest areas.