Drought
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The latest Drought Monitor report came out on Thursday and shows that most drought in the Southeast is gone due to recent rains. Only a small area around Mobile Bay in AL is still showing moderate drought. You can see the latest Drought Monitor at https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/RegionalDroughtMonitor.aspx?southeast. This often happens over the winter, when evaporation is low…
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AgWeb published a report today on a talk given to the Texas Plant Protection Association by Carlos Rubinstein, chairman of the Texas Water Development Board. The talk covered the effects of recent droughts on crop and livestock production in the state. Rubinstein reviewed the impacts of the 2009-2011 drought on farm incomes and discussed the growing population in Texas…
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The latest Drought Monitor came out this morning and shows that severe drought has been reduced to less than half a percent of the Southeast. It is now confined to an area in the panhandle of Alabama surrounding Mobile. Abnormal dryness continues in many areas of the Southeast except for the Florida peninsula, but is…
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Farm Industry News published a very interesting panel discussion on the future of farming across the world in the face of changing climate, consumer demands, and other challenges. You can find it at https://farmindustrynews.com/precision-farming/future-farming. One of the themes that come up in the discussion over and over again is the important of water availability and…
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Dairy farmers in New Zealand are facing serious consequences of water shortages that can be traced to the developing El Nino. These water shortages have led to tighter restrictions on water use and have also reduced the availability of cheap energy from hydroelectric dams due to restrictions on how much water can be released. The…
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The Washington Post published a story today based on a study by the American Geophysical Union that explores the return period of the latest drought in California. The study, based on tree ring analysis, shows that the current exceptional drought is the worst in about 1200 years based on temperature and precipitation reconstructions. You can…
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November 30 marks the end of the hurricane season in the North Atlantic Ocean. The map below summarizes all of the storm paths this year. Only one storm hit the US: Hurricane Arthur over the 4th of July weekend. The lack of tropical systems this year was one of the main reasons for the development…