ancona
Praying Mantis
I thought I would kick this around a little because.....well......shit like this can wreak havoc around the world. Anyhow, when I was scrolling around on this borrowed computer this morning [I grenaded my machine Sunday.......Damn it!] I couldn't help but notice how all the mainstream newsbots keep repeating the farm report mantra of 30% crop loss in soy and 29% crop loss in corn. All of the anecdotes I read on farmer blogs and in regional chat rooms indicates something far, far worse. The talk has shifted from one of cautious hope to desperation and crop insurance. Those who could afford to buy the insurance are praying that they actually get paid, since the whole idea is that if an insurance company has to pay out, it is only to a few farmers in a small area, not the entire midwest.
The tone of the insurance conversations is dire folks, since the worry is that the insurance companies could go broke, leaving the farmers to twist in the wind and go bankrupt.
This drought has been so severe that even if they do get the forecasted light rains this week, soil moisture is so low that most of it will simply run off. Have you ever seen this effect? I have. When dirt gets really, really dry, and you squirt water on it, the surface actually seems to repel water. Well, this is the thought about the coming light rains, way too little way too late. With temps forecast to remain up in record territory, we could be looking at some biblical shit this year in grains.
Of course our government had the brilliant foresight to sell off all of our strategic grain reserves because, well, drought and pestillence never happen.......right?
The tone of the insurance conversations is dire folks, since the worry is that the insurance companies could go broke, leaving the farmers to twist in the wind and go bankrupt.
This drought has been so severe that even if they do get the forecasted light rains this week, soil moisture is so low that most of it will simply run off. Have you ever seen this effect? I have. When dirt gets really, really dry, and you squirt water on it, the surface actually seems to repel water. Well, this is the thought about the coming light rains, way too little way too late. With temps forecast to remain up in record territory, we could be looking at some biblical shit this year in grains.
Of course our government had the brilliant foresight to sell off all of our strategic grain reserves because, well, drought and pestillence never happen.......right?