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Midwestern farmers will continue to see wet growing seasons, warmer nights

Farmers in the Midwest will continue to experience wetter growing seasons and warmer nights, according to Eric Snodgrass, the principle atmospheric scientist with Nutrien Ag Solutions.

“And while we still have year on year variability- I mean years like 2012 happen, we do get heat- the longer-term trend is for us to be not seeing extreme heat in our afternoon temperatures,” he says. “But, the overnight lows are warm. The other thing is we’re actually getting wetter and the way the precipitation is being delivered is in much bigger events.”

He tells Brownfield growers will be able to remain productive if they manage water and herbicides and pesticides while facing these challenges.

“If we can continue to do that well into the future,  we’re going to continue to see our yield curves growing,” he says. “I can’t say the same narrative for the rest of the world. There’s going to be major changes around the world that are going to really hit agriculture sectors hard, but here in the Midwest we have the soil and the rain.”

Snodgrass spoke to Brownfield at the Indiana CCA Conference in Indianapolis.

Audio: Eric Snodgrass, Nutrien Ag Solutions