As of Feb. 4, almost 50% of the nation’s winter wheat, 40% of domestic cattle and 30% of corn acreage were in drought, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
If drought conditions continue, 500,000 acres — much of it open ground that would typically be planted with crops such as tomatoes, onions and other vegetables — will sit idle.
The California cattle herd is being liquidated, said Ned Schmidt, editor of Agri-Food Value View, an information source for investing in agriculture. “No water, no grass, no hay, and feed would have to come too far and at too high a cost.”
And for winter wheat KWH4 0.00% , the market’s starting to worry about the effects of the drought on spring wheat planting, which occurs between April and May, Teucrium’s Gilbertie said. There’s even some moderate drought in midwestern states like Minnesota and Iowa, which are big soybean SH4 -0.46% and corn producers CH4 +0.85% .
Summary
During the past 7-days, the first significant storm of the wet season (since October 1) inundated parts of central California and the northern Sierra Nevada with 6-12 inches of precipitation, with locally up to 15 inches. Although there were short-term local improvements from this week’s ample precipitation, the long stretch of subnormal precipitation dating back to 2011-12 wet season has accumulated large deficits, leaving rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and snow packs well below normal. Even though this storm was welcome, the central Sierra still needs 3-4 more copious storms to bring this wet season close to average. Farther north, lesser but welcome precipitation (2-4 inches) also fell on the southern Cascades, while unseasonably cold air dropped measurable snow from Portland, OR, to Seattle, WA. Unfortunately, little to no precipitation fell on southern California and the Southwest.
Cedar
