Heard that a weather service has put out a report comparing and contrasting this year's conditions to the drought of '88. Don't know what it says, but am certainly old enough to remember how bad things were then.
They're not that bad yet here, but obviously some farmers must be getting deja vu all over again. It's sure hot as heck and subsoil is real dry. In terms of temps, precip, and yields, I wonder how we'll compare this year to '88? -- Rob
Rob with increased irrigation and better crop genetics their is no reason why we shouldn't outyield 1988. I don't know how the rest of the country looks but most crops within 50 miles of me look about the same with the exception of a few spots that received a rain at key points. My Grandfather has farmed here since the late 1960's and has never had a year that corn yielded nothing. That includes 1988 where corn yielded 29 bushel. This year it is doubtful that we have a corn crop. I have corn on some very heavy clay ground. The corn curled and burned up in the lighter spots in the fields but in the heavier ground the corn 'looks' OK but never really grew. Corn that never curled and got chest high is now tasseling. 1988 was a year burned into memories, I believe the difference will be how wide spread it becomes. 1988 was a very wide spread drought but 2012 has made some garden spots in Eastern Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota that 1988 may not have had.
MDA EarthSat Weather put out the report this morning, and is marketing it for $250. It includes maps comparing the two years in terms of temperature and precipitation, as well as comment on July and August weather outlook. The upshot, from MDA's perspective, is obviously that the two years deserve comparison.
this year reminds me more of 1983 than '88.. '83 is the only year (so far) that i had a field of corn with zero yield.. i guess the '83 drought may not have been a geographically widspread?
"Remember, corporations are people too." Mitt Romney
If the link worked, it's easy to change the search parameters. Center the map on your page and locate the control boxes with your cursor. As soon as it starts to play, stop it. Then go to First and use the Forward and Back keys to look at maps one at a time.
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After I looked at that I even got more bullish. Look at last year how most of us were sitting pretty good with moisture and only ended up with a 147 yield. My predictions this year is a 129 yield.
AG MOBILE
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