This week Bloomsburg News published a story discussing the northward shift of the grain belt due to increases in temperature and precipitation across the northern US and into Canada.  You can find the article here.

What do trends in climate mean for corn in the Southeast?  In my next post I will show you an easy-to-use web site which allows you to look at temperature and rainfall trends for any region of the US.  In brief, the data show that in Georgia and much of the Southeast, temperatures over the last 120 years have increased very slightly and annual precipitation has shown no real trend.  Since about 1970, however, temperatures across the Southeast have increased more rapidly, in concert with changes across most of the US and the rest of the world.  The increases in temperature have lengthened the growing season and also increased evapotranspiration from crops and other vegetation.  If this trend since 1970 continues, it may make it harder for Southeastern farmers to grow corn efficiently in the future, since corn does not do well at temperatures above about 86 F, especially where conditions are dry.

Of course, producers don’t just use the climate to determine what they plant; market forces, transportation and production costs, and development of new cultivars can also factor into these decisions.  But in the future, corn production may move farther north and farmers here may choose more economically and climatologically viable crops to grow.