Weather
A fast-developing El Niño could bring much-needed rain to the Plains, but timing and coverage remain uncertain. Brian Bledsoe explains what a strong event could mean for drought relief.
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.
From “perfect storms” to record-breaking shifts, University of Florida experts break down the devastating impact on specialty crops and why resilience remains the only path forward.
Industry experts gathered in a recent Florida Blueberry Growers Association webinar to detail record losses and a looming disease crisis following a generational freeze.
How quickly will La Niña exit this year, and when will El Niño enter the picture? Not all meteorologists agree with NOAA or one another, but the timing could have a major impact on weather this spring and summer.
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.
Agricultural meteorologist says the Northeast can expect another cold threat, while the Pacific Northwest should fair well.
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.
“The reality is we are playing catch-up with a situation that has been worsening for decades exacerbated by drought, disease and even climate change,” farmer, rancher and firefighter Johnnie White testified to Congress.
Citrus growers in Tulare County, Calif., are digging their way out of the muck to restore flood-damaged orchards and salvage the remaining citrus harvest.
“Farmers in the Salinas Valley were picking up the pieces from January’s flood event when hit by the March storm and subsequent flooding,” said Chris Valadez, Grower-Shipper Association of Central California.
Western Growers and California Farm Bureau are praising California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to lift regulations, allowing floodwater to recharge aquifers during the ongoing weather crisis across the Golden State.
Economists have confirmed that Florida citrus crops sustained the most extensive hurricane damages, estimated at over $247 million, in a study of Hurricane Ian’s impacts to Florida agriculture.
Record-breaking drought continues to impact irrigation options for citrus growers in California and Arizona.
“For the farms that were flooded, this catastrophe hit at the worst possible time. Farmers had borrowed money to prepare the fields and were weeks away from beginning to harvest,” said CSC’s Rick Tomlinson.
The USDA said the “Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment” finds that global average temperatures from 2012 to 2021 were close to 2 degrees F warmer than the preindustrial period (1850 to 1899).
Multiple hurricanes damaged some Central American crops but left others unscathed as the 2021 U.S. export season kicks into high gear.
NEW YORK — Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx will be closed for buying until 7 a.m. Feb. 2 during the winter snow storm blanketing New York and the surrounding northeastern region.
NEW YORK — Winter Storm Orlena blanketed the Northeast and New England regions so much that Hunts Point Produce Market had to pause for a day until companies could toss it off and move on.
The U.S. West is suffering from successive and compounding drought and the situation is getting worse.
Recent rain in California has been fantastic for the long-term interest of growers, said Casey Creamer, president and CEO of California Citrus Mutual.
The outlook is good for the California strawberry crop despite statewide storm damage, says the California Strawberry Commission.
The USDA designated four counties and 10 contiguous counties as natural disaster areas. Farmers in these areas may be eligible for emergency loans and other assistance.