By: Demi Conteh
According to a recent study by the American Farm Bureau Federation, a lobbying group that represents agricultural interests, nearly three quarters of US farmers say this year's drought is harming their harvest, with considerable crop and income loss. Crop development can be stifled by drought, which can reduce the quantity and quality of yield. The effects of the drought this year are more severe than they were last year, according to 37% of farmers, who stated they are destroying and dying current crops that won't mature due to the dry weather. According to the report, that represents an increase from 24% last year.
The National Centers for Environmental Information report that, with the exception of Montana, July was the third-hottest month in US history and was among the top 10 for all Western states. In its weekly meteorological and crop bulletin for the week ending August 6, the US Department of Agriculture said that "rapidly intensifying drought gripped the central and southern Plains and mid-South, depleting topsoil moisture and significantly stressing rangeland, pastures, and various summer crops." Due to the unprecedented drought, which has caused water supplies to dry up and grass to burn up, farmers in Texas are being forced to sell off their cattle herds earlier than usual. Farmers in the Lone Star state reported a 50% decrease in herd size as the biggest decline, followed by those in New Mexico and Oregon at 43% and 41%, respectively.
The report claims that because of the drought, US consumers should plan to spend more money on some food goods."For cattle and beef, once the market processes the excess animals sent to slaughter and has a smaller breeding herd to operate off of- [price increases] could be six months to well over a year. For specialty crops it could be immediate upon harvest," A Farm Bureau economist Daniel Munch made the statement.
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