Weather Outlook For Spring 2022
16 February 2022, US: As Spring approaches, it’s good to keep an eye on the weather and what it could bring for your planting and growing season. With potentially dry and wet weather patterns on the horizon, thinking about your crop insurance coverage is as timely as ever.
The backdrop for weather this year is that we are in a La Niña now. The terms La Niña/El Niño are broadly considered to be the ENSO cycle. This refers to the cooling or warming of the waters around the equator. Those cooling and warming waters have global impacts on weather
Right now, the La Nina cycle is reaching its peak and we’ll probably start to see it fade. But the impacts of La Nina will persist well into April.
While the North and West are seeing a cooler mass of air, we’re currently seeing a drought in the Southwestern Plains of the U.S. that is concerning because it is reaching into key winter wheat growing areas.
Over the next three months, we’ll start to see that precipitation will continue to be below normal in the Southwestern Plains. Continuing to have dry conditions in an area that is already experiencing drought.
Looking to the Ohio River Valley and lower Indiana will see a surge of moisture which could contribute to planting problems because fields will be too wet. This could cause planting delays in this region.
It’s difficult to predict further than three months for what will happen this summer but we know that weather seldom repeats itself. But that’s not to say we should completely ignore the lessons of years past.
It’s always a good bet to think about the what ifs with weather. For a farmer who had a good year last year, they may not be thinking about the need for crop insurance but knowing that weather never repeats itself lends itself to not completely ignoring crop insurance coverage.
