Drought
Seasonal weather models are beginning to hint at improved moisture chances across the western Plains, offering drought-weary producers cautious optimism heading into late spring and summer.
Record corn yields have risen 10x in 100 years. David Hula says continued genetic gains, along with a deeper understanding of what’s happening underground, could push yield potential far beyond what most farmers expect.
This ranks as the fifth worst crop in history and it’s mainly tied to the fact 68% of the crop is in some level of drought. For Kansas, it could be as bad as 2023.
The nation’s corn crop is currently 11% planted, sitting 2 points ahead of the five-year average. Although many Illinois farmers are waiting to plant because of wet conditions, much of the latest national crop progress comes from Illinois and Indiana.
Tim Webster and Steve Crothers share their cropping plans, telling Ken Ferrie they hope to bounce back this season from record low rainfall and extreme heat in 2025.
Reaching levels rarely seen since 2013, historic dryness grips the eastern Corn Belt, the Southeast and into the western Plains. With 68% of winter wheat in drought, producers face potential abandonment.
DuWayne Bosse with Bolt Marketing says funds are buying and covering short positions due to expanded drought in hard red winter wheat country on Thursday’s U.S. Drought Monitor and the lower crop conditions.
A fast-developing El Niño could bring much-needed rain to the Plains, but timing and coverage remain uncertain. Brian Bledsoe explains what a strong event could mean for drought relief.
With wheat barely a foot tall, the flag leaf is already emerging—a sign the crop is rushing to reproduce under stress, leaving too little structure to support a harvest. Less than 10% may be harvested in West Texas.
In Texas, for example, more than half of the winter wheat is rated poor to very poor. USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says the state recently endured its fourth-driest stretch from September to February in the last 131 years.
Agronomist Eric Beckett shares strategies for managing tillage, product applications and budgets despite what’s shaping up to be a dry and potentially windy spring.
While an unexpected March freeze is causing some farmers in Mississippi to replant corn, a mild spring is spurring early planting, with some farmers reporting they’ll finish planting corn by the end of this week.
Brian Bledsoe of Brian Bledsoe Weather explains what’s driving the record heat, how long it may last and why it’s not a repeat of 2012.
NOAA and CPC issue an official El Niño watch with a 62% chance of forming by late summer. Meteorologist Drew Lerner explains why it’s coming sooner than expected, but warns the extreme forecasts may be overstated. What it could mean for global crops this year.
A wet, active weather pattern across the Eastern Corn Belt could delay early planting this spring. Meteorologist Matt Griffin says repeated rain events through March and April may keep fields too saturated for fieldwork east of Iowa.
As La Niña Looks to Make One of Its Quickest Exits on Record, Strong El Niño Signals Are Now Brewing
Pacific waters are warming rapidly as La Niña fades. Meteorologists warn the shift could reshape U.S. rainfall, drought conditions and severe weather risk during the 2026 growing season.
Barbell, beer can and banana are descriptive names for abnormal ear shapes that show up every season and cause yield losses — problems growers could avoid more often by tuning into three factors researchers refer to as GEM.
Strong winds, above-average warmth and months of worsening dryness created a “perfect recipe” for wildfires across the Southern Plains, scorching pasture and farmland — with little moisture relief in the forecast.
After a dry, unusually warm January, key Western river basins are in severe snow drought. With irrigation allocations at 0%, one Colorado producer warns tough planting decisions could reshape this year’s crop mix.
How quickly will La Niña exit this year, and when will El Niño enter the picture? Not all meteorologists agree with NOAA or one another, but the timing could have a major impact on weather this spring and summer.
2026 Weather Outlook: La Niña’s Quick Exit, El Niño’s Potential and the Signals Farmers Should Watch
Meteorologists predict a quick La Niña exit, with a 75% chance of transitioning to ENSO-neutral by Jan-March. Expect neutral conditions to persist through at least late spring with a growing chance of El Niño in 2026.
A new report details the need for more ag funding to address existing weeds, insects and diseases as well as agronomic problems that have yet to reach U.S. shores.
USDA Under Secretary Richard Fordyce says USDA’s new phase of the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program expands eligibility, requires in-person enrollment and targets losses from the 2023 and 2024 weather disasters.
Farmers wanting to hang onto the soil moisture in their fields are struggling to address compaction and ruts where there has been little to no recent rainfall. Anhydrous ammonia applications are also difficult to get sealed in fields where moisture is minimal.
An intense burst of Arctic air is set to sweep across the U.S., Meteorologist Drew Lerner explains how drought and dry soils will amplify the cold and why this pattern could persist through the rest of winter.
Meteorologist Brian Bledsoe says a strong ridge is keeping much of the U.S. warm and dry through mid-November, extending drought across key farm regions, but a pattern shift may bring some relief, and possibly even snow.
While many farmers in the state were delighted by the results the 2025 season delivered, that wasn’t the case everywhere. In some areas, Mother Nature delivered a series of agronomic problems that dominoed and turned a potential bin buster crop into one that was average at best by harvest.