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Dry area expands in western U.S. Corn Belt -Drought Monitor
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on July 25th, 2013
Reuters: Abnormally dry areas expanded in the U.S. western Corn Belt, including the top crop state of Iowa, over the past week to put much of the corn crop at risk, according to a weekly drought report.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, issued by state and federal climate experts, said dry conditions in the U.S. Midwest for the week ended Thursday, reached 18.94 percent, up from 7.16 percent a week earlier. Dry areas expanded in Minnesota and Iowa south to Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The spread of the...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Dry area expands in western U.S. Corn Belt -Drought MonitorU.S. drought expands for 3rd straight week-US drought monitor
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on July 3rd, 2013
Reuters: Drought conditions expanded in the contiguous United States over the past week given persistent heat and dryness in the southern Plains, while the eastern half of the country is out of drought amid steady rains, according to a weekly drought report.
The U.S. Drought Monitor, issued by state and federal experts on Wednesday, said drought areas in the "moderate to exceptional" categories grew to 44.06 percent, from 43.84 a week ago.
"This is the third straight week of the drought expanding,"...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. drought expands for 3rd straight week-US drought monitorCrop scientists now fret about heat not just water
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on October 24th, 2011
Reuters: Crop scientists in the United States, the world's largest food exporter, are pondering an odd question: could the danger of global warming really be the heat?
For years, as scientists have assembled data on climate change and pointed with concern at melting glaciers and other visible changes in the life-giving water cycle, the impact on seasonal rains and irrigation has worried crop watchers most.
What would breadbaskets like the U.S. Midwest, the Central Asian steppes, the north China Plain...
In the world’s breadbasket, climate change feeds some worry
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on September 5th, 2011
Reuters: It can't happen here, can it? The United States, the breadbasket and supplier of last resort for a hungry world, has been such an amazing food producer in the last half-century that most Americans take for granted annual bounteous harvests of grain, meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and other crops. When horrific images of drought or famine in Africa, Asia or other regions land in American media, America is usually first in line with food aid shipments, air drops, and other rescue efforts from its...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In the world’s breadbasket, climate change feeds some worryAfrican land grab threatens food security: study
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on July 26th, 2011
Reuters: Rich countries grabbing farmland in Africa to feed their growing populations can leave rural populations there without land or jobs and make the continent's hunger problem more severe, an environmental think tank said on Tuesday.
The trend is accelerating as wealthier countries in the Middle East and Asia, particularly China, seek new land to plant crops, lacking enough fertile ground to meet their own food needs, Washington DC-based Worldwatch Institute said.
Worldwatch said its researchers...
Seed maker races for crops as climate changes
Posted by Reuters: Christine Stebbins on June 1st, 2011
Reuters: A changing climate that many scientists fear will hurt global crop production means seed makers must work harder to meet food needs as world population grows by 30 percent by 2050, a top world seed executive said.
"Agriculture production is moving to the north because those climates are becoming warmer. Some of those environments are also very conducive to some good agricultural production," Paul Schickler, president of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a unit of chemicals giant DuPont, told Reuters on Friday....