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More than half of U.S. commodities stuck in extended dryness

Dryness in the Central and Western states is impacting nearly $160 billion of U.S. ag production.

Data from the American Farm Bureau shows most of the U.S.’s top ag commodities are grown or raised in states experiencing extended dryness – like 81 percent of cattle and calves.

Jon Doggett, National Corn Growers Association CEO, tells Brownfield his family’s ranch in Montana is in desperate need of moisture. “We had a horrible, horrible drought last year. We had a big part of the mountain range where our snow pack is burn up and our snow pack is small this year then it was last year,” Doggett says. “We’re trying to hold on to a bunch of momma cows. We don’t want to see them go down the road.”

AFBF Economist Danny Much says the drought could impact several aspects of the food supply chain. “When you start to eat in on the cold storage side as well as the production side, that’s going to be a strong decline in supply and pressuring demand for imports from other countries and really pushing prices upwards on the produce side prices received but also on the consumer side.”

The data shows extended dryness is affecting 81 percent of wheat production, 60 percent of corn, 54 percent of soybeans and 75 percent of hay. For livestock, it’s 72 percent of dairy production and 65 percent of hog production.

Danny Munch, American Farm Bureau Federation: