The U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday morning looked the same as it did last week, when University of Minnesota soil scientist Jeff Strock said recent snow and rain brought relief to farmers who will be planting soon.

“The vast majority of that moisture is actually getting into the ground and really starting to wet up that top 4 to 6 inches of soil that has been really pretty dry, given that we’ve had very little snowfall and moisture over the course of the winter,” he said.

In the long term, though, farmers will continue to deal with uncertainty caused by climate change. University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership Director Heidi Roop met with farming representatives in St. Cloud Tuesday to talk through the research on future climate conditions in the state — and what they mean for agriculture. She joined MPR News Cathy Wurzer with takeaways from the meeting.