As a climatologist, I am always trying to understand more about how climate impacts other aspects of the economy, and especially how it affects agriculture. So I found this article on how the weather affects the ability of corn to pollinate to be fascinating, because I learned more about how…
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You already know about the damage caused by the incredible derecho that blew across the Corn Belt a couple of weeks ago. Now farmers are trying to decide what to do with their storm-damaged crops. Some were completely destroyed, but others may be salvageable for silage or even for grain…
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I’ve been following the story of the terrible derecho in the Corn Belt and how it has affected farming there. Here is a story from Farm Progress that gives more detail about how the crops were affected and how things like the corn variety and stalk strength made a difference…
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The Soil Health Institute is a non-profit charged with safeguarding and enhancing the vitality and productivity of soils. They will release Cotton & Covers, a Healthy Soils for Sustainable Cotton video series, on August 20, 2020. The series follows three Southeastern cotton producers as they discuss their individual journeys to build profitable soil…
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As I am sure you all know, the severe derecho that blew through the Midwest a few days ago has caused tremendous damage to the area, which is part of the Corn Belt and one of the main agricultural areas in the US. While it is too early to estimate…
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The derecho that moved through the Midwest yesterday did a tremendous amount of damage to the crops in the region. Here is a comparison of before and after images which show how much corn was knocked down by winds of up to 113 mph. https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2020/08/200728_200811_terra_modis_trueColorRGB_Iowa_derecho_crop_damage_anim.gif. If you don’t know what…
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We’ve had a lot of scattered severe weather over the summer, and with that comes not only strong winds and lightning but some hail, with sizes ranging from a quarter inch to tennis-ball sized. As you can imagine, if the hail hits your crops, especially at a sensitive time in…
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