Weather Affecting Agriculture
Weather Affecting Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
Growing up in Kansas there was a saying...if you didn’t like the weather just wait a few minutes and it would change. I have since discovered that same sentiment is used here in the northwest. It seems it is either too cold, too hot, too windy, too wet, too dry and never just right. Around the U.S. we have been seeing some very strange weather and you can call it global warming or whatever but it giving agriculture the smackdown on the mat. From coast to coast we are getting a mixed bag of weather. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says that another of Mother Nature’s tricks may be occuring.
RIPPEY: Not every day but fairly frequently we will be seeing severe weather outbreaks from the southeastern plains into parts of the midwest and also across the south. Fire weather will be a big issue in Arizona and especially in New Mexico and west Texas perhaps spreading a little bit to the north into western Kansas and Oklahoma. And then we’ll also see this very extreme temperature contrast where we’re seeing a very late arriving spring across the north all the way from the northwest into the midwest. At the same time we’ll see periods of extreme heat if you will. Temperatures in the 90’s to even low 100’s across the deep south. We really don’t see any change in the current weather pattern.
Well as you no doubt know the midwest has been pummeled by severe storms over the last couple of week and here in the northwest I still seems to be wearing my long johns and running the heater in the house. So what can we expect to see weather wise going into May?
RIPPEY: The 8 to 14 day outlook for the last 5 days of April and the first 2 days of May calls for a continuation of warm and dry weather from southern California to the southern high plains but much of the rest of the country will experience generally cool conditions and also near to above normal precipitation, much of what we’ve been seeing so far in April and that includes of course the northern plains, the midwest and much of the east on the cool and wet side as we head into the rest of the month and into early May. One exception will be southern Florida where we expect dry conditions to persist.
The weather is causing ag issues from late planting in the midwest, severe damage due to heaving rains and tornadoes and of course late fruit crops here in the northwest. All I can say is wait a few minutes and it will change. I hope.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
