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Warming temperatures in the Northeast have caused problems for maple syrup producers in recent years since the time period that the sap is running in the trees is starting earlier and ending sooner than in the past. According to an article in Modern Farmer, “Just a few degrees makes all the difference—too many warm days…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
Here is a nice corn growing degree day (GDD) tool for the US available from Nutrien at Nutrien GDD Tool (ag-wx.com). You can input the location, planting date, and maturity level and get a curve that shows the corn development stage. It is based on PRISM gridded weather data developed by Oregon State University. Some…
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This is the time of year when predictions of how active the Atlantic tropical season is likely to be start popping up in the news. Here is a story from Growing Produce that describes the probabilities of different coasts being hit as well as what years are considered the best analogs to this coming season.…
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I’ve often heard that diesel tractors and other farming equipment are unlikely to ever be replaced by electric vehicles when I attend farmers’ gatherings. This appears to be based on beliefs about current battery efficiency and the huge amounts of power needed to run some of this equipment. But a lot of farming is done…
Posted in: Climate and Ag in the news -
For the first half of April 2023, nearly all of the region was warmer than normal, but rainfall was very much hit or miss, with some areas receiving several times their usual rainfall while others had practically nothing. Generally the driest areas were also the warmest, which is not a surprise because there cloud cover…
Posted in: Climate summaries -
In spite of the rising sea level along the coasts, people are moving there in droves. You might wonder why they are doing so, since the risks of damage from high tides and storms now is creeping up even faster than the ocean is. This article from Yale Climate Connections discusses why coastal development is…
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This past week, hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University released their preliminary forecast for the number of tropical storms and hurricanes expected to form in the Atlantic basin this season. They predict a total of 13 tropical storms will form, of which six will become hurricanes. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its sustained…