February 18, 2013 - UNITED STATES - The searing U.S. drought of 2012 devastated the nation’s corn crop, pushing yields down in some states to their lowest levels in nearly 30 years. According to recently-released numbers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Missouri, Illinois and Indiana were among the hardest hit Corn Belt states, with yields at 28-, 26-, and 22-year lows, respectively.
 |
Farmer Matt Johnson pauses while in a dead area of his popcorn crop fields on his family's farm in Redkey,
Indiana, June 28, 2012 Photograph: BRENT SMITH/Reuters. |
2012 Drought Devastates Crops In The United States.
To put the severity and impact of the 2012 U.S. drought in context, the top 10 hardest-hit states for crop damage are illustrated in the interactive graphic below. With several states seeing their lowest corn crops in more than 20 years, along with damaged soybean and sorghum harvests, the interactive shows how 2012 ranks against the past 27 years for all 10 states.
Missouri was hit particularly hard, with corn yields down 42 percent below its 2002-2011 average and Iowa, Kansas and Kentucky were also devastated, with yields at 20-year lows. In Illinois and Indiana, yields were down by more than a third. Kentucky, not a major corn producing state, had the largest overall corn crop failure, with more than a 50 percent reduction in yield, compared to its 2002-2011 average.
In Colorado and Nebraska, where most corn crops are irrigated, far fewer acres of planted corn were even harvested in 2012. In Colorado, only 70 percent of crops were harvested, compared to an average of 85 percent between 2002-2011, and in Nebraska the harvest was down about 7 percent from the 2002-2011 average. In most other states, where crops depend on rain rather than irrigation, the harvest remained high, even as yields declined substantially.
On Friday, the USDA is expected to announce the final crop values for
2012. Even though last year’s drought touched more than 80 percent of
U.S. agricultural land, at first glance those figures may not reflect
the full extent of crop damage. That’s because the dwindling crop yields
drove up prices of corn, soybeans and sorghum in the second half of
2012.
Overall, crop-related farm income was not down substantially in 2012,
despite the severe drought. The unusually high crop prices and record
insurance payouts — at least $14 billion in government aid has already
been doled out — helped offset drought-related profit losses.
Bloomberg News
recently reported that
farmers are likely to see lower profits in 2013, even if the drought
becomes less severe or disappears completely later this year because
corn prices will be lower than last year and fewer farmers will qualify
for insurance.
The second week of February marked the 34th consecutive week in which more than
half the land area in
the contiguous U.S. has been engulfed by drought, and the
33rd consecutive week in which more than 10 percent of that area was
under “extreme drought,” or worse. As this historic drought rolls on
through a dry winter, the
chances of recovery rest increasingly on a far wetter-than-average spring.
The drought was most likely initially set into motion by the
cooler-than-average water temperatures of La Nina in the tropical
Pacific Ocean, which influences weather patterns across the continent.
But
some scientists suggest that
the overall warmer climate created by manmade global warming may have
amplified this already devastating drought, particularly by triggering
more intense heat during the spring and summer of 2012.
A recently released draft of a new federal climate change assessment
shows that as the climate continues to warm in the next few decades,
drought events are likely to become more frequent and severe, leading to more significant water supply and agricultural impacts in much of the U.S.
Soybeans, the country’s second biggest crop — in both acres and sales
— was also hit hard in some states. Kansas saw the most damage, where
the average yield was nearly 30 percent lower than in recent years.
Nationally, soybean yields were only 5 percent below normal, but Iowa,
the biggest soybean producer in the country, had its second-lowest yield
in a decade.
Large portions of sorghum crops were also ruined by the drought,
particularly in Kansas, the country’s top sorghum producer (harvested
sorghum grain is primarily used as animal feed). Throughout June, July,
and August, the entire state was in drought (with as much as 90 percent
in severe drought) and sorghum yields were about 50 percent lower than
recent years. Nationally, sorghum yields averaged about 20 percent below
normal. -
Guardian.
Nebraska Lawmakers Preparing For "New Normal" Of Mega-Fires Due To Severe Drought.
Massive wildfires blamed on the summer drought are prompting lawmakers to rethink Nebraska's approach to fire safety.
Lawmakers will consider a bill this week that would add new firefighting resources in some of the most remote corners of Nebraska. The measure by Sen. Al Davis of Hyannis would station single-engine air tankers near Chadron and Valentine to help fight fires in the Panhandle and the Sandhills.
The bill would also require the Nebraska Forest Service to thin its forests and expand training programs for residents and volunteer firefighters.
State Forester Scott Josiah says Nebraska will likely see a "new normal" of mega fires because of heat, climate change and the spread of highly flammable pine trees.
Davis will present the measure Friday to the Legislature's Natural Resources Committee. -
WOWT.
Drought Stalls 20 Ethanol Plants In 5 American States.
Many U.S. ethanol plants have halted production over the past year, mostly because the drought has made it difficult to get locally produced corn.
Most plan to restart, but it may not be until the 2013 corn crop is harvested in September.
Below is a list of idle plants in the region and the month they ceased operation:
Nebraska
—Midwest Renewable Energy LLC in Sutherland, February 2012.
—NEDAK Ethanol, in Atkinson, June.
—Valero-Albion in Albion, June.
—Aventine in Aurora-East, September.
—Abengoa in York, January.
—Abengoa in Ravenna, January.
Minnesota
—Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op in Little Falls, August.
—Biofuel Energy in Fairmont, September.
North Dakota
—ADM in Wallhalla, March.
Kansas
—East Kansas Agri-Energy in Garnett, August.
Missouri
—POET in Macon, January.
-
Star Herald.
