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Just read this article in USATODAY. Here are some of the pertinent points: "Record heat that has been baking much of the nation for weeks is likely to have lasting effects on farm crops and consumers in the Northeast.
"It's been devastating," says Carl Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. "The lack of rain combined with close to 100-degree temperatures just takes a toll on crops."
Shaffer, who is in Washington this week for a meeting with other state farm bureau chiefs, says colleagues from Maryland, Delaware, New York and New England report similar problems.
Corn on Shaffer's 1,800-acre vegetable and crop farm in Mifflinville is showing signs of stress just as the corn is entering the pollination phase, "which is the worst possible time, (because it) shows the most impact on the yield of the crop," Shaffer says. With his snap peas a week from harvesting, "we won't have half the crop," he says.
Dairy farmers are hurting too, he says because their cows eat less and produce less milk when they're hot, and farmers may need to buy feed to replace damaged feed crops of corn and soybeans.
Consumers are likely to feel the impact because "whenever there's a shortage that translates to higher prices in the grocery store," Shaffer says.".
If anyone really needs a reason to be a prepper, this is a pretty good one. The weather patterns seem to be rapidly moving away from the norm for any given time of year, and the process only seems to be accelerating. :gaah:
"It's been devastating," says Carl Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. "The lack of rain combined with close to 100-degree temperatures just takes a toll on crops."
Shaffer, who is in Washington this week for a meeting with other state farm bureau chiefs, says colleagues from Maryland, Delaware, New York and New England report similar problems.
Corn on Shaffer's 1,800-acre vegetable and crop farm in Mifflinville is showing signs of stress just as the corn is entering the pollination phase, "which is the worst possible time, (because it) shows the most impact on the yield of the crop," Shaffer says. With his snap peas a week from harvesting, "we won't have half the crop," he says.
Dairy farmers are hurting too, he says because their cows eat less and produce less milk when they're hot, and farmers may need to buy feed to replace damaged feed crops of corn and soybeans.
Consumers are likely to feel the impact because "whenever there's a shortage that translates to higher prices in the grocery store," Shaffer says.".
If anyone really needs a reason to be a prepper, this is a pretty good one. The weather patterns seem to be rapidly moving away from the norm for any given time of year, and the process only seems to be accelerating. :gaah: