Crop Conditions
NOAA and CPC issue an official El Niño watch with a 62% chance of forming by late summer. Meteorologist Drew Lerner explains why it’s coming sooner than expected, but warns the extreme forecasts may be overstated. What it could mean for global crops this year.
With 86% of North American feed ingredient samples testing above the risk threshold for mycotoxins, livestock may face stacked biological stress.
Leading ag meteorologists share the weather drivers they are watching.
Elevated levels of the disease are trending currently, and are of ‘serious concern’ over the next eight weeks, say researchers.
The silver lining, meteorologists say, is many farmers and livestock producers in the central and eastern U.S. have had sufficient moisture this spring and milder temperatures headed into summer. For some, that’s about to change.
This spring turned into the wettest in over a century for parts of the U.S. As the focus shifts to June, the moisture in the ground will help keep the heat down, but the pattern is also turning drier for two Midwestern states.
The start of June could bring high heat and drier weather, which is a stark contrast from the forecast for the last week of May.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says climate models have consistently shown a ridge across western North America that could lead to drought development, drought continuation or even drought expansion across portions of the Plains and West.
Record-breaking heat hit areas of the U.S. this week with snow in the forecast for the weekend. As the disparity of moisture plays out, Nutrien’s Eric Snodgrass says he’s still concerned about the risk of drought.
Drew Lerner, founder of World Weather, Inc., says the summer of 1968 had some strong patterns, including a wetter bias in the western and north-central U.S., but drier in most of the Atlantic Coast states and parts of the eastern and southern Midwest.
Farmers in the upper Plains, northern Plains and Northeast came up short on snow for the 2024/25 season. In some cases, they experienced the winter that wasn’t, now sitting 10" to 30" short on normal snowfall.
ENSO-neutral means conditions could be close to average, but Eric Snodgrass, Nutrien’s principal atmospheric scientist, says that doesn’t mean the weather will be normal this spring and summer with growing concerns about drought.
A new Kansas City Fed report shows farm incomes continued to weaken, particularly in crop-heavy states like Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, while cattle prices provided some support.
The wrath of wildfires is something Canada knows all too well. 2023 was an historic season, and 2024 is off to an active start with some fire forecasters saying 2024’s wildfire threat could rival 2023.
There’s now a 60% chance La Niña will develop between June and August and an 85% chance it’s in effect by November 2024 to January 2025, according to NOAA.
From the intense heat in the South to drought blanketing much of the U.S., weather stole headlines again in 2023. What caused such extreme conditions? One meteorologist explains the culprits of the heat and drought.
With heat forecast to top 100 degrees in places, combined with the expectation for little to no rain, crop conditions could deteriorate and the biggest risk in the western and central Corn Belt.
The National Drought Mitigation Center estimates 67% of corn and 60% of soybeans are still considered to be in drought, a slight improvement from last week when drought covered 70% of corn and 63% of soybeans.
USDA released a few big surprises in the June acreage report, including a spike in corn acres and a large reduction in soybean acres. The agency also forecasts grain stocks below trade expectations.
Hurricane-force winds swept from northern Missouri and Iowa all the way east to Illinois and Indiana. The derecho brought wind gusts up to 100 mph, flattening cornfields, but it also drenched soils with crucial rains.
Even with rains sweeping the Northern Corn Belt last weekend, the latest drought monitor shows drought continues to spread across Illinois with D2 (Severe Drought) taking a 28-point jump in a week.
Drought is deepening across the Midwest with 64% of the corn crop and 57% of the soybean crop across the U.S. now covered in drought, a sizable jump in just a week after NASS showed a historic drop in condition ratings.
The updated drought monitor indicates dryness will continue to expand across eastern Missouri, eastern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Seven U.S. states along the drought-starved Colorado River have reached a deal with the Biden administration to conserve water in a “historic consensus” to prevent supply problems for big cities as well as farmers.
Scenes across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas resemble the Dust Bowl after winds topping 100 mph ravaged the area. Growers are dealing with a dryland wheat crop that could already see abandonment as high as 80%.
As La-Niña ends, meteorologists say the next two months could determine whether we see a drought like 2012 or a return of regular rains across the lower 48.
USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey is concerned about the impact this week’s high heat could have on corn production as the majority of the crop was planted late. The August forecasts are also concerning for soybeans.