Drought
Kansas typically accounts for 25% of the nation’s winter wheat production, but ongoing drought is weighing on overall crop conditions. Farmers are now facing the possibility of increased abandonment this year.
Some 44% of U.S. soybean oil will go to biofuels during the current marketing year, said the monthly WASDE report. Two years ago, the biofuel share of soyoil consumption was 37%.
Drought continues to tighten its grip across the Plains, forcing farmers in West Texas to make some very difficult decisions this growing season. It’s also causing concerns about crumbling cotton infrastructure.
Just ahead of USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, the largest cotton growing state in the U.S. is seeing another year of drought, and with fields resembling the Dust Bowl, crop prospects are dwindling by the day.
As farmers in the Plains continue to see losses from drought, groups like NSP are discussing during Commodity Classic either permanent disaster aid or other changes to strengthen the safety net within Farm Bill.
Farm Bureau finds 2022 weather events added up to 18 weather and climate disasters, each with damages exceeding $1 billion.
As drought creates a dire situation for farmers in the Southern Plains, National Sorghum Producers is not only concerned about the financial outlook for 2023, but how disaster aid payments will be dispersed for 2022.
Scenes across Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas resemble the Dust Bowl after winds topping 100 mph ravaged the area. Growers are dealing with a dryland wheat crop that could already see abandonment as high as 80%.
Despite weather trends, planting projections for 2023 find corn, wheat and soybeans similar to 2022, for a combined 228 million acres—a 3% increase from 2022.
What will the next decade hold for your farm? What factors should you use to weigh investments or crop planning? Here are five trends and data sets to ponder from USDA’s latest Agricultural Baseline Projections.