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Wheat Spread Hits Record As Drought Plagues Midwest

April 4, 2023

Wheat Spread Hits Record As Drought Plagues Midwest

The spread between hard-red winter wheat and soft-red winter wheat has blown out to a record high as drought threatens crop yields across the Midwest and other major farming regions.

Hard-red winter wheat’s premium over soft-red winter wheat is $1.72 a bushel in Chicago on Tuesday morning, surpassing the 2011 record.

James Bolesworth, managing director at CRM AgriCommodities, told Bloomberg the widening spread is “a factor of the drought in the US Plains which is detrimentally impacting crop conditions.”

The latest report from the US Department of Agriculture found Kansas (top producer) had only 19% of the acreage in good or excellent condition. Agritel analysts pointed out droughts are hitting crops in other states:

“A deterioration of the crop ratings is also visible in Texas and Colorado.”

Simultaneously, drought conditions plague the Canadian Prairies. Farmers in the region are planting in some of the driest conditions in half a century. They need adequate moisture to plant wheat and canola crops, or this might lead to poor crop yields later in the growing season, which could impact global supplies.

“If there isn’t good moisture, those tiny plants are quite susceptible to adverse conditions,” said Bill Prybylski, a farmer and vice president at the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan. 

The possibility of lower US and Canadian wheat production because of persistent drought conditions could exacerbate global food supplies. Already, droughts in Argentina have reduced crop yields, and wartorn Ukraine has forced farmers to reduce plantings.

All of this means that global food inflation will likely remain elevated for the foreseeable future. How to hedge higher costs at the supermarket? Plant a garden.

 

Another “Bomb Cyclone” Hammers U.S. Plains And Midwest

April 11, 2019

Another “Bomb Cyclone” Hammers U.S. Plains And Midwest 

As the storm reaches “bomb cyclone” criteria on Thursday, more than 200 million people in the United States will feel the impact of this dangerous weather system sweeping across the Plains and Midwest.

Heavy snow has developed and will continue to fall on the northern Plains, a portion of the central Plains and Upper Midwest into Thursday night as arctic air rushes in, reported Reuters. 

Into the overnight, heavy snow will extend from northeast Colorado and northwest Kansas through Nebraska, South Dakota, southeast North Dakota, Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“It is a bomb cyclone, the second we’ve had,” said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist at National Weather Service (NWS) in College Park, Maryland. “This is like a slow-moving snowstorm inside a hurricane.”

PowerOutage.Us shows 13,660 homes and businesses are without power in Minnesota, and about 9,500 in South Dakota around 7 am est.

Between 4 am and 8 am, there are 61 airport delays across the U.S., mostly seen at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport, according to Flight Aware.

The region in focus is the Central U.S., the same area where a “bomb cyclone” hit last month and unleashed deadly flooding and blizzards. A little over $3 billion in damage was done to property, crops, and livestock in Nebraska and Iowa alone.

“The heaviest snow so far is piling up in South and North Dakota, with some areas getting 17 inches, and more is on the way,” Hurley said. “We’re expected another 10 to 15 inches before this is done.”

The snow adds new woes to Midwest farmlands which have been slammed by President’s Trade war and last month’s “bomb cyclone.”

NWS said this storm is a “historical springtime snowstorm.”

The storm is expected to crossover the Great Lakes area and northern Michigan on Friday, bringing more rain and snow to the East North Central U.S.

Wicked Weather: Midwest Jumps From Coldest April To Hottest May On Record

June 1, 2018

Wicked Weather: Midwest Jumps From Coldest April To Hottest May On Record

“After an incredibly chilly April, May rebounded significantly, featuring record heat late in the month across the Midwest and while not official yet, May could go down as the warmest May on record nationally thanks to this late-month heat surge.

A plethora or heat records were broken this past weekend, including Minneapolis, MN soaring to 100°F. This broke the record daily record for May 28 and reaching 100°F for only the second time in recorded history. This intense heat has since abated, but more above normal temperatures are expected into early June across a majority of the Plains and Midwest,” explained Ed Vallee, head meteorologist at Vallee Weather Consulting.

“April featured record-breaking cold, particularly across the Upper Midwest, compared to normal. May has rebounded significantly with record heat this past weekend in the Midwest, and above normal temperatures across a majority of the country,” Vallee added.

According to the weather desk of Radiant Solutions, “Memorial Day weekend felt more like the peak of summer for many in the Central US.” Here are some peak highs from earlier this week:

  • Chicago set record highs of 97 and 95 degrees Sunday and Monday, only the second time it has endured back-to-back 95 degree days in May on record.
  • Milwaukee and Toledo established record highs for May of 95 degrees (Sunday) and 98 degrees (Monday), respectively.
  • Omaha and Green Bay, Wis., set record highs on four straight days Friday to Monday.
  • Des Moines set record highs on three straight days Saturday to Monday, including its earliest 99-degree reading on record Sunday.
  • Muskegon, Mich., hit 96 degrees Tuesday, a monthly record.

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