Irrigation units are pictured in southwest Kansas near Dodge City, Kansas, November 26, 2012. Residents of the Great Plains over the last year or so have experienced storms reminiscent of the 1930s Dust Bowl. Experts say the new storms have been brought on by a combination of historic drought, a dwindling Ogallala Aquifer underground water supply, climate change and government farm programs. Picture taken November 26.

WASHINGTON | Fri Feb 15, 2013 4:12pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. farmers will plant crops this spring under the shadow of a persistent drought that grips prime farmland from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, with grain supplies already tight from drought losses in 2012.

In all, 56 percent of the contiguous United States is under moderate to exceptional drought, twice the usual amount, the Senate Agriculture Committee was told on Thursday.

Arid weather was expected to run until May in the wheat-growing Plains and in the western Corn Belt, where corn and soybeans are the major crops.

"In fact, we are forecasting drier conditions," said Roger Pulwarty, director of the National Integrated Drought Information System, a federal agency. Above-normal rainfall benefited the southern Plains at the start of this year.

Wheat, corn and soybeans are the most widely grown U.S. crops and form the foundation of the U.S. food supply. They are used in livestock rations and as ingredients in food ranging from salad dressing to bread, breakfast cereal and cookies.

MOST OF WINTER WHEAT IS UNDER DROUGHT

Some 59 percent of winter wheat was under drought conditions, said Joe Glauber, Agriculture Department chief economist. "While that also implies that spring planting may be affected by drought conditions as well, there have been improvements in the eastern Corn Belt, where many areas are no longer experiencing drought."

With adequate rainfall during the growing season, U.S. yields will rebound to normal levels, leading to bumper corn and soybean crops. In turn, commodity prices would fall as near-empty grains bins are filled. The corn stockpile is expected to be smallest in 17 years by harvest-time this year.

The government's three-month outlook says drought will persist in the central and southern Plains and the U.S. Southwest while easing in Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Most of U.S. cattle and hay production areas are under drought conditions, said Glauber. Ranchers and cattle feeders culled herds as pastures withered and feed costs soared in 2012.

"Particularly for cattle producers, the next four to five months are critical," said Glauber. "Hopefully, some spring rains to get pasture conditions back up" while abundant crops in the fall "should help relieve feed prices."

ONLY 1934 DROUGHT WAS WORSE THAN 2012

The 2012 drought ranks second to 1934 as the most widespread and severe drought, said Pulwarty. But in the Midwest, 2012 was the driest summer on record with half of the usual rainfall.

Crop insurers paid a record $14.2 billion as of Monday for crop losses in 2012, almost all due to drought. The old record was $10.8 billion in 2011, also a drought year.

Indemnities could total as high as $16 billion or $17 billion when all claims are settled, said Glauber. USDA oversees the federally subsidized insurance program.

"The western Corn Belt remains dry, no doubt about it," Glauber said after the hearing. He said rainfall and temperatures in late summer, when corn and soybeans mature, are far more important than early-season moisture levels in determining yield.

"It's still very, very early," he said.

(Reporting By Charles Abbott; editing by Gunna Dickson)

View the original article here

Thu Jan 31, 2013 1:19pm EST

n">(Reuters) - The unrelenting drought gripping key farming states in the U.S. Plains shows no signs of abating, and it will take a deluge of snow or rain to restore critical moisture to farmland before spring planting of new crops, a climate expert said on Thursday.

"It's not a pretty picture," said climatologist Mark Svoboda of the University of Nebraska's Drought Mitigation Center.

Precipitation in the Plains region has been 3-6 inches shy of normal levels since October, and some areas are nearly 16 inches short of much-needed moisture over the last nine months, said Svoboda.

The drought that last year ranked as the worst in roughly 50 years is still entrenched in the nation's mid-section. This month was considered the worst January in terms of drought over the 13 years that a consortium of federal and state climatology experts have been monitoring drought levels and issuing regular "Drought Monitor" reports, said Svoboda.

"The January number is the highest amount of coverage for the U.S. since we've been doing this," Svoboda said.

Thursday's Drought Monitor report showed severe drought still gripping 87.25 percent of the High Plains, unchanged from the prior week. Fully 100 percent of the land area in Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma remained engulfed in severe drought or worse, according to the Drought Monitor.

Nebraska remained the most drought-stricken state, with 96.28 percent in extreme drought - the second-worst level of drought - and 77.46 percent in exceptional drought, considered the most dire.

The Plains states are key crop production areas, particularly for hard red winter wheat, an important bread-making crop. And they are critical areas for cattle and other livestock production.

Overall, 57.68 percent of the contiguous United States was in at least "moderate" drought as of January 29, a slightly worse situation than the previous week's tally of 57.64 percent. Exceptional drought expanded slightly to 6.37 percent, up from 6.36 percent of the country.

Millions of acres from South Dakota to Oklahoma and west into Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico and east into Missouri and Arkansas, are short more than half of the normal moisture they receive, said Svoboda.

The dry conditions have been exacerbated by unseasonably warm conditions in many areas.

The U.S. winter wheat crop that was planted last fall is struggling for survival now as a result, and will need substantial moisture to emerge in the spring.

Corn and soybeans crops, generally planting in April or shortly after, will also need good soil moisture to get the plants off to a healthy start before summer sets in. But there are no signs of any significant weather pattern shifts to bring about heavy precipitation, said Svoboda.

"Instead of normal, we'd like to see 150 percent of normal," he said.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by David Gregorio)

View the original article here

n">(Reuters) - The U.S. national weather forecaster reiterated its prediction that the much-feared El Niño phenomenon is unlikely to affect the Northern Hemisphere weather this spring.

In its monthly report on Thursday, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said conditions will remain neutral for the next few months, further reducing the chances of a drought in Asia and flooding in South America.

The report also raised the possibility that the pattern that can wreak havoc on weather would not reappear before the summer, but said a forecast so far ahead covering the April to June period may not be accurate.

El Niño leads to a heating of Pacific waters, triggering drought in Southeast Asia and Australia, which produce some of the world's major food staples, such as sugar cane and grains. It can also cause flooding in South America.

For the United States, El Niño can bring higher than average winter precipitation to the Southwest, less wintry weather across the North as well as stronger winter storms in California and increased storminess across the southern states.

The CPC is part of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

(Reporting by Josephine Mason; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

View the original article here