Record rains threaten Midwest crop yields - The Spokesman Review
“I always try to stay optimistic about crops, but this is a year where it’s been really tough to be optimistic,” said Lamb, who began farming in 1989 near Lebanon, Indiana. It’s a scene playing out in Illinois and Indiana, both of which set rainfall records for June, and four other key farm states. Climatologists are assessing what brought on the repeated precipitation, keeping corn and soybean fields from drying out and setting the stage for big crop losses in several states just a year after record harvests. The Midwestern Regional Climate Center in Champaign, Illinois, is looking into the causes of the rain-sodden summer – Illinois saw twice the normal amount of rain for the month of June alone – including whether the largest El Nino system in a... A stationary front that stalled over the region in late spring funneled in the parade of drenching low-pressure systems that swept the region throughout June and into July, said Bryan Peake, one of the center’s climatologists. East-central Illinois farmer Mark Henrichs isn’t sure whether the crippling rains, which came three years after a devastating drought, might be tied to changes climate. Source: www.spokesman.com
