5-4 FB Farmer Weather

 According to a recent study conducted by Yale University, in 2011, Americans experienced a record-breaking 14 weather and climate disasters that each caused $1 billion or more in damages, in total costing approximately $53 billion, along with incalculable loss of human life. These disasters included severe drought in Texas and the Great Plains, Hurricane Irene along the eastern seaboard, tornadoes in the Midwest, and massive floods in the Mississippi River Valley. In the period of January through March 2012, Americans also experienced record warm temperatures, with temperatures across the contiguous United States 6.0 degrees F above the long-term average. In March alone, 15,292 warm temperature records were broken across the United States. Climatologist Richard Pauli agreed with me in a recent conversation when I said that climate change has not gone unnoticed in the agricultural community:   “Yeah well farmers are going to know about it too. I think farmers are right on top of things. All the farmers I know want to look at the science and the weather reports and they also pick up a Farmers Almanac once in a while.”