July 31, 2013

Weeks of spring and summer rains across the southeast United States have severely affected crops dependent on hot summer sun. Peaches are tasteless; tomatoes are splitting; and watermelons are rotting on the vine. Watermelon farmers in southern Georgia believe that at least half of their crop is lost. In North Carolina, rain delayed spring planting of the peanut crop, which agronomists say will undoubtedly result in lower yields.

While rainfall across the contiguous 48 states is only about 6 percent above normal for this time of year, the Southeast has been swamped. According to the National Climatic Data Center, rainfall in Georgia through June was 34 percent above normal; North Carolina and South Carolina were 25 percent above normal; and Alabama was 22 percent above normal. By contrast, the region was abnormally dry or in drought at this time last year.

Weeks of rainstorms have severely affected crops across the Southest. (© Marco Alegria, Shutterstock)

State officials in the Southeast predict agricultural losses will mount into the billions of dollars this year. In some areas, water is standing in cornfields, and mold is growing on the stunted ears of corn. Tomato fields are being hit by late blight, a fungus-like pathogen. Pecan farmers fear that a rain-related fungus, scab disease, will cut crop yields by as much as 15 million pounds (6.8 million kilograms). This year’s Georgia beach crop is essentially lost because the rain has diluted the sugar content of the fruit. “The flavor is just not there,” one farmer told The New York Times. “It’s like having a mouthful of cotton.”

On top of compromising quality and fostering disease, the rains have left the ground so wet that farmers may be unable to get equipment into the fields to harvest. Climatologist Jake Crouch, with at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, is not hopeful about a drier late summer and fall. “Whenever we get in a pattern like this, we kind of stay in the status quo,” Crouch reported to the Times. “When we’re hot and dry, we stay hot and dry. When we’re wet, we stay wet.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Agriculture
• Climate
• Weather
• Agriculture 2012 (a Back in Time article)
• When the Rain Stops (a special report)

March 19, 2012

A drought that began in Mexico in 2010 has turned into the worst that the country has experienced since official weather record keeping began in 1941, according to Mexican officials. At least two-thirds of Mexico’s 31 states are experiencing extremely dry conditions with below-normal rainfall. The north-central states of Coahuila, Durango, San Luis Potosi, and Zacatecas have been hardest hit. However, government officials are also concerned about drought in Guanajuato, one of the top food-producing states in the country. Mexican farmers produce large quantities of beans, corn, onions, and tomatoes, both for export and as food for their own people. Mexico is also the chief supplier of cattle to the United States. According to some estimates, food production across Mexico has fallen by 40 percent, raising food prices.

(World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

Farmers who rely on rainfall to water their crops and livestock were the first to experience hardship. Rain has fallen in some states at only half the usual levels. As the dry conditions have continued, lakes and reservoirs have fallen to critically low levels. Many farmers are no longer able to irrigate their crops, and ranchers cannot supply their cattle with water. Several towns have run out of drinking water. The government has begun delivering emergency food and water supplies to thousands of people, and about 2 million others lack adequate food.

Some meteorologists expect the drought to continue for at least several more months. They believe the dry spell is the result of a La Nina. A La Nina is a weather phenomenon in which the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean become colder and the climate becomes drier. A La Nina follows the better-known weather condition known as an El Nino. During an El Nino, waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean become warmer and the climate becomes wetter. One of the strongest La Nina’s in more than 10 years occurred from 2010 to 2011. Texas has also been experiencing a severe drought.

Additional World Book article:

• Food supply