News

Extended growing season likely

An ag meteorologist is calling for a hotter and drier growing season, putting crops with poor root development at risk.

“The remainder of July into August—warmer to hotter and drier with a main storm track still across the Dakotas, the far Upper Midwest, and northern Great Lakes areas.”     

Greg Soulje tells Brownfield because of the late start to planting, heat stress could cause issues at tasseling but he’s betting on an extended growing season with later than normal frost and freeze events. “Our thinking here is that it will be a later frost and freeze with this still strengthening El Nino set up.”    

Water levels in the Great Lakes are some of the highest on record and Soulje says that could cause a warmer “island effect” heading into winter for the region. “Warmth is held longer in a water body and so you tend to anticipate around the Great Lakes area even a milder and warmer perhaps start to the wintertime season.”        

He says a strengthening El Nino could also mean a warmer and drier start to winter for other areas.