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• In dry times, Kontz said, "we just plant and hope for rain or try and put the seed deep enough to reach moisture in the soil."
• Kontz said conditions in the southeastern corner of the state are not too bad currently but it feels dry.
• "I think it's going to be dry this spring," the 35-year-old farmer said. "It was dry last fall, and in this area of the world, we didn't get a lot of snow."
• Jerry Obrist, chief engineer for water works in Lincoln, Neb., has been monitoring drought conditions as well. In Nebraska, exceptionally dry weather affects aquifers that provide water for communities across the state.
• Drought severity varies across Nebraska, and Obrist said precipitation has been below average this year.
• "South Dakota's been getting all our rain and snow," he said with a laugh. He is hoping for a wet spring. But if the city's water resources become pressed, officials will restrict outside water use, Obrist said.
• Al Dutcher, Nebraska's state climatologist, said drought recovery can take years, so the region will need good rain for more than a few months in order to recover from the 2012 drought.
• He said it could take several years for some areas of Texas and Kansas to recover from severe drought.
• Dutcher and other scientists said temperature is also a factor this spring for farmers. Temperatures are expected to remain below average, meaning there's less fuel for the thunderstorms that bring precipitation.
• Gillispie said cooler temperatures might also shorten the growing season in the northern Plains.
• However, Gillispie said, "if we can get this wet spring, we should be in good shape."
•

• MINOT, N.D. (AP) -- Minot State University has named an interim head football coach, after newly hired coach Todd Hoffner decided to return to his old job in Minnesota after just 75 days at the northern North Dakota school.
• MSU hired Hoffner in late January. On Tuesday he decided to return to Minnesota State, Mankato. An arbitrator recently ruled that Hoffner had been wrongly fired from the Minnesota school about a year ago after charges were dismissed in an unfounded child pornography case.
• Minot State defensive coordinator Byron Thomas will assume head coaching du

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