Drought
‘The real question is what happens in 2013, when the ethanol blending obligation increases to 13.8 billion gallons.” --Purdue University
The worst drought in a generation dramatically improves the chances that Congress will pass a farm bill this year that preserves some form of price supports.
The area of the Corn Belt with less rainfall than normal has expanded to cover 70% of the region, with more dry days ahead this week, QT Weather says.
Thousands of acres of wheat have been baled for feed in drought-stricken areas of North Dakota. Many farmers are abandoning small grains because the quality of the crops are not worth harvesting.
The historic 2012 drought is far from over, but it has at least subsided in parts of the country.
Among other benefits, the project multiplies the number of available genetic markers that plant breeders can use to improve drought tolerance.
Despite the worst single-year drought ever in the Southern Plains, wheat producers there are hoping for, or perhaps even banking on, more rain.
It’s no secret that wheat is struggling in Oklahoma and Texas.
Cotton production in The Golden State is on a decline for the fourth straight year, as farmers find it increasingly hard to justify growing it amid a multiyear drought.
The corn has grown to only half its normal height on Yan Shuqin’s ranch in the hills of Inner Mongolia this year, as a swath of northern China suffers its worst drought in 60 years.