Agriculture is dependent on weather. It can either help bring a prosperous harvest or ensure a difficult year. Today, technology and better understanding of weather patterns can help farmers understand when they can expect certain weather and how to adapt.
The U.S. is expected to experience the El Nino weather pattern this winter, which means a warmer winter for Wisconsin. Eric Snodgrass is the Senior Science Fellow for Nutrien Ag Solutions who studies weather and helps producers better understand it. Snodgrass says that just because it will be warmer doesn’t mean that there won’t be bitter cold.
“It will be punctuated with big Arctic outbreaks because that’s how it always happens,” said Snodgrass. “How many of those days were warmer than average? You’re going to find more of them were warmer than average than cooler. But, when the cool weather does come in, it’s going to come in hard.”
Snodgrass expects that this El Nino will help alleviate drought pressure in major agricultural areas across the country. This is due to storm systems moving through as a result of El Nino. “We will probably emerge in late winter, early soring with that number down around twenty-five percent,” said Snodgrass. This would be down from the fifty-five percent of U.S. land areas being covered in drought.
Knowing that an El Nino is coming is an opportunity for farmers to begin preparing for the weather. Looking at the fall harvest, Snodgrass advises farmers to “push hard when the windows are opening”. El Nino’s tend to give more of a volatile October pattern. After the first ten days of the month, Snodgrass believes temperatures will drop and precipitation increase.
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