Drought across many parts of the world is causing problems for farmers that are either harvesting their summer crops or planting winter ones. In Europe, a drought combined with several heat waves devastated maize production there, causing shortages that may be a 15-year low for the crop, according to Reuters. The droughts there and in other production areas plus the continuing war in Ukraine are causing grain stocks to be at very low levels. Meanwhile, in the US, drought in the center of the country is forcing winter wheat producers to plant into very dry soils, which is reducing stands and stunting growth. Inside Climate News describes how this year’s drought has killed off one Texas cotton farmer’s crop, and the flow of grain down the Mississippi has ground to a halt with river levels that are so low that barges cannot float down their usual channels, according to the Delta Farm Press.
