About a third of Missouri is experiencing severe drought conditions, according to Accuweather meteorologists.
The good news is that the St. Louis metro region has not officially reached drought conditions yet. But, the conditions are abnormally dry -- and with little expected rainfall and increasingly hot temperatures, the region could reach drought conditions soon.
The drought has reached extreme levels farther south in the state, especially near the Missouri-Arkansas border.
Throughout the state, the heat and drought have farmers concerned. Traves Merrick, a cattle rancher in Miller, Missouri, said it's been tough on his work.
"We've got quite a bit of timber here, and I've moved about 80% of the cattle into timber areas with a creek running through," Merrick said. "Water's just about gone. So we're kind of relying on the timber to keep them cool, and have access to our automatic waterers."
He said over the last 30 years or so, they've implemented automatic waterers in almost all their pastures, which is especially necessary since springs are drying up. Now, he said, some cattle are starting to lay in what ponds are left, or shallow creeks.
"And that mud actually will affect them. Give them some foot rot. So that's another issue we have on top of lack of grass, lack of nutrients, lack of water," he said. "So it just kind of keeps adding on on to everything."
In a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Governor Mike Parson announced that he was issuing an executive order to activate the Drought Assessment Committee.
Parson said that by responding early, "we can greatly reduce the impact on our agricultural community and Missouri citizens."
He added that as a farmer himself, he knows how hard droughts can be -- especially in July.