Articles Tagged with ''drought''

The Biden administration is looking to farmers to help alleviate global food shortfalls by planting winter wheat this fall on ground that’s coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program, but much of the acreage lies in states that are suffering from prolonged drought.

The Agriculture Department will soon start distributing $6 billion in disaster relief payments for losses producers had in 2020 and 2021.

FAO's measure of global food commodity prices fell slightly in April, driven by an easing of corn and vegetable oil prices, after jumping 13% the month before following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Many farmers in the southern Plains and the West worry they can't produce their crops this year because of an abnormally dry winter and little prospect for moisture in coming weeks.

More money is on the way for producers who had previously filed for assistance through Department of Agriculture programs to help feed their livestock after suffering through inclement weather in 2021.

The winter wet season in the Sierra Nevada started with a bang in October but appears ready to end this spring in disappointing fashion.

The rainy season is kicking off with enough moisture to ease some Californians’ water worries, but the long-term outlook for agriculture remains one that calls upon farmers to maximize “crop per drop.” In the case of almonds, one of the state’s most profitable crops, it could take decades to transition from existing trees to others that can achieve similar yields with less water.

Parts of California received record-breaking rainfall over the past week, but “it’s too early to tell” how much impact that will have on the current drought, says UC Davis professor Jay Lund, co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences.

The Western drought that stretches through much of the Great Plains is pushing cattle ranchers and dairy farmers to the breaking point – and sometimes past it – as producers scramble to feed their animals.

A House subcommittee on Wednesday will serve as the venue for the third hearing in 10 days aimed at studying the impacts of a lingering drought on California and other western states.