Heat Wave Wilts Corn as Supplies Diminish Most Since 1996

it produces LOWER YIELDS

it is the greatest failure of genetic engineering

droughts only affect GM crops.

Do you farm? We do, in the Midwest. We are in the middle of a drought, and expecting triple digit temperatures this week. This will impact our livelihood for several seasons. People here are really hurting.

that linked this to lower yields due to GM.

Obviously it's the lack of water and surplus of heat. Not the dreaded genes that that poster fears.

This will impact our livelihood for several seasons. People here are really hurting.

Never said otherwise.

hit with several killing frosts. Cherry crop is all but wiped out. Apples, peaches, etc all seriously reduced.

Now, the bean and corn fields are scorching. Not looking good around here but I know there are areas much worse off than us...for now.

100 degrees tomorrow and straight upper 90's for the following days with just a scant 20% chance of pop-up showers.

Hang in there, it is going to be tough.

Godspeed.

I just spent 6 weeks in the second most important tart cherry producing county in Michigan, which is Number One in tart cherries for pies, pastry and cheese cake topping. In my county, orchards on the highest ground do have some cherries, but harvesting them is expensive, and I'm not sure that many will be picked or shaken.

Most areas receive their dark red sweet eating cherries from Washington state. To my knowledge, the west coast crop of sweet cherries is fine.

Apples, peaches and plums in Michigan ( and probably upstate New York) are down probably 70-80%. One of the processors in my county has contracts with McDonalds to produce those little packets of apples. He can only use three varieties of apples for the McD's product, and I have no idea where those are coming from.

Blueberries and strawberries were relatively unaffected, as were the other vegetable crops, field corn and hay. Michigan blueberries will be in your stores about 3 weeks early, however.

It has been very dry, but last week a series of fronts brought some rain. A few farmers have irrigation equipment, and there is plenty of ground and surface water for their use.

By the way, Michigan resort areas are as beautiful as ever! Temperatures in the Upper Peninsula, Northern Lower Peninsula and along the Lake Michigan shoreline from north to south are cooler than most places in the Midwest. The higher temps will mean that lakes, including Lake Michigan, will reach swimming temps earlier than usual. Those Pure Michigan commercials are for real! Come on up! The blueberries will be waiting.

For example: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/05/corn-monsanto-idUSL1E8H4JMW20120605



The problem is actually two-fold. Even if a corn plant survives droughts, these heatwaves that are becoming more and more frequent are having a major detrimental impact on pollination. So, you could theoretically have a field of nice-looking but cobless corn that's only good to be chopped for silage feed.

We're going to have a hell of a time feeding the global population in the coming years. The future we all feared, the one climate scientists warned us about, is here

I guess Senator Inhoffe (R-OK) doesn't follow what is happening to crops in his state. Another head in the sand. The sooner he is off to retirement the better.

...as long as his oil-soaked paymasters are doing well.

weeks, with no improvement expected. Tomorrow we're supposed to hit 100* plus and the next 5 or so days, 90* plus, with no rain in sight. My poor garden looks about as bad and that's with our watering it about every other day.

For the first time in my memory, there was no appreciable snow. There were thunderstorms in my area in February.

Now, we're looking at temperatures Thursday and Friday between 100 and 105, with fire danger warnings because it's also windy as hell. Most of the counties in my state have outright burning bans, and some cities have bans as well. Fireworks this year are looking like a no-go -- things are so bone dry that any spark could probably take out a whole neighborhood. No joke.

The last time I remember any kind of rain here was in late April. Now, when rain comes, it's only for a few minutes and is mere drops.

I feel so sorry for farmers. They are totally at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

And anyone who continues to deny global warming clearly has their head someplace where the blazing hot sun doesn't shine.

Which once again shows how our climate zones are shifting north as global warming advances. Too bad you can't move farms much further north into Canada due to infertile, rocky soil.

Prepare to see the fabled North American bread basket shrink in the coming years as it becomes too hot to sustain today's commercial agriculture in it's southern portions.

I heard that some places in Kansas on Tuesday were warmer than Saudi Arabia.

A new wave of Okies fleeing the next Dust Bowl as the water supplies falter. The Ogallalla aquifer is already plummeting in many areas where it's been pumped for decades. If water supplies are truly the oil of the 21st century, as many have been saying, we're gonna have a population boom up here in the upper Midwest. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing though.

We've had a population boom there, not to mention California's demand for water. And it wasn't that long ago that Georgia and Tennessee were in a water war, at least in the courts. And I agree with your Dust Bowl scenario -- and it will be much worse than that of the '30s.

This whole situation is sort of like a sci-fi "Grapes of Wrath." And I really, really don't want to see how this all plays out.

There was a lake in my front yard and a foot of water in my basement (this 30 miles south of Minneapolis/St. Paul). The city of Duluth was almost swept into Lake Superior by a once-in-a-century storm event. An escaped seal from the zoo was found swimming it's way across a highway.

All this after the driest fall on record, one of the least-snowiest winters ever, and the warmest spring ever recorded.

Good thing global warming is all a myth though!

Thanks for the thread, Purveyor.

just starting. If this were later it would not be so bad. However we have been hybriding corn to fit out OLD climate for decades and now that there is a change it is not versatile enough to make the change that is needed on its own.

Global end stocks were estimated to increase by 26 million tonnes. 64 million tonnes of the production increase were expected to be from the U.S., so that estimate has been knocked on its ass.

http://www.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/grain.pdf

Why haven't we been working flat out on alternative crops and land use?

here in central Oklahoma today and expected tomorrow.
But CO2 doesn't matter it is instead plant food according to renowned pathological liar and charlatan Lord Christopher Monkton.
Hey Monkey,how is that cure for AIDS working out for You? Really?
STFU!

Depression and Droughts

history repeats itself

So much of the world depends on corn, it's got to be the # 1 staple, definitely for livestock, also for ethanol production. Not to mention lots of hungry people around the world who depend on the supply.

No doubt the price of corn is going to go up dramatically, especially if other grain producing countries like Russia and others have weather problems.

Interestingly, here in Oregon the weather is just perfect for growing. I took a long drive along the Willamette Valley yesterday to have a look a the local farms. Everywhere there were crops growing, the wheat looks great. Lots of fields full of small corn plants they look just fine.

Luckily, we have not had any dry weather to speak of. In fact, it's been rainy, cold wet weather for months. For a while, we weren't sure if the tomato plants would even make it it's so cold.

La Nina weather phenomenon is behind it. Looks like we're in for a decade of cold, wet rainy weather here in the Northwest. I wish it would even out a bit.

for fuel. Ethanol is not needed and we should be using corn for food.

I would like to know how many of these farmers were planting more corn for ethanol than they were doing in the past for food.

And he should know. He's the head guy at Exxon.