https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17/business/west-drought-farmers…
Early harvesting, animals sent to slaughter early, and total farm areas being reduced due to drought.
Some nuts, fruits, meat (beef, no idea re pork), and more will likely go down in price soon due to a temporary surplus. However, all will have higher prices longer term as total farm production capacity is being actively cut back due to the drought.
I am somewhat skeptical of the sensationalist headlines put out by some news organizations.
There is definitely a drought in the West. Water reservoir levels in California are lower than normal, and most of us have read about the situation with Lake Mead. I don’t know about the South, and it probably depends on which crops we are discussing. The Central Plains, however, are actually looking pretty good in terms of the grain crops produced there. The main corn growing states are Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska, plus parts of surrounding states. The corn crop is looking healthy for this time of the summer.
Current crop conditions in Iowa:
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Crop_Progress_&…
As of August 14, Iowa’s corn crop is about 65% in good or excellent condition. Other grain crops in Iowa are looking pretty good, as well. Soybeans about 60% good or excellent.
Overall for the US, this year’s corn, soybean and wheat crops look satisfactory, if not a little above normal. It isn’t the widespread crop failure implied by certain news sources looking for clicks.
US Corn production: 14.4 billion bushels estimated, as of Aug 12.
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/cornpr…
US Soybean production: 4.53 billion bushels (at the high end of recent years)
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/soypro…
Wheat: 1.78 billion bushels. Not a record, but not that bad either.
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/awprod…
The charts above are the estimates for mid-August, so there could be some time for the final harvest to get a little worse or a little better from here. As the farmers say, don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. But so far, this looks like a pretty good grain harvest year in the US. Much of that grain goes to making livestock feed. In the US, a large portion of the corn crop also goes to making ethanol for blending with gasoline.
Other posters here could have different opinions, based on their own knowledge and experiences. The above is just how I see it, as of now.
Pete,
Other posters here could have different opinions, based on their own knowledge and experiences. The above is just how I see it, as of now.
I see drought all around us here in Southeastern MA. We are really hurting for some good rain.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu
Northeast
The variable rainfall pattern means drought conditions eased in wetter areas, but drought persisted or worsened in areas that missed significant rains. But of particular note is the introduction of extreme drought (D3) in eastern Massachusetts outside Cape Cod, and much of southern and eastern Rhode Island. These areas have received near or less than half of normal rainfall over the last 3 months, and only about 50 to 65 percent of normal in the last half-year, which is 9 to 11 inches less than normal. Other areas were hit-and-miss, but severe drought (D2) or worse remains confined to areas near the Atlantic Coast, southeastern New England, a small area in west-central Connecticut and adjacent New York, and a newly-introduced area in parts of New York City and adjacent suburbs.
Doing rain dances here in SE MA.
'38Packard
I am somewhat skeptical of the sensationalist headlines put out by some news organizations.
This is not sensationalist news organizations. It is a matter of fact/record the entire planet is steadily getting warmer–and massive changes are happening relatively quickly.
“Hardiness zones in the U.S., which track average low temperatures in winter, have all shifted northward by half a zone warmer since 1990. Source: United States Department of Agriculture.”
Average low temperatures are significantly higher and going UP. We see this very clearly in MN.
This change has caused major shifts in crop plantings throughout the US.
I am currently looking at an item not grown in the US–but does very well in arid Africa.