From DTN Progressive Farmer, April 18:
This article was originally posted at 3:12 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 18. It was last updated at 3:57 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 18.
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OMAHA (DTN) -- Farmers made little headway planting corn and soybeans last week as winterlike weather returned to much of the Midwest and Northern Plains, USDA NASS reported in its weekly Crop Progress report on Monday. In addition, dry weather in major winter-wheat-growing regions eroded the crop's condition last week.
CORN
-- Planting Progress: 4% nationwide as of Sunday, April 17, up just 2 percentage points from the previous week, 3 percentage points behind last year's 7% and 2% points behind the five-year average of 6%.
-- States at the top and bottom last week: Texas led the way in corn-planting progress at 64%. On the low end of other states that had started planting, Nebraska and Pennsylvania reported just 2% of corn planted. Several other states reported no progress, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
SOYBEANS
-- Planting Progress: 1% nationwide as of Sunday. That was 2 percentage points behind last year's 3% and slightly behind the five-year average of 2%....
....MUCH MORE
One of the Scariest Sentences In the English Language: Crop Progress Report Edition
The weekly crop progress report was released yesterday but first a quick diversion:
In the spring of 1315, unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe.The story continues:
Throughout the spring and summer, it continued to rain and the temperature remained cool. These conditions caused widespread crop failures. The straw and hay for the animals could not be cured and there was no fodder for the livestock. The price of food began to rise. Food prices in England doubled between spring and midsummer. Salt, the only way to cure and preserve meat, was difficult to obtain because it could not be evaporated in the wet weather; it went from 30 shillings to 40 shillings.
....I am so torn on this stuff.
The world can handle one year of crop failures in two of the major growing regions, think Ukraine, western Russia, U.S. Midwest, northeast China, Brazil, Australia.
If it stretches to two years in two regions simultaneously it's time to start thinking famine.
And famine is profitable for everyone but the people who need to eat.
Back to the Wikipedia entry:
...The famine caused millions of deaths over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of growth and prosperity from the 11th to the 13th centuries.
The Great Famine started with bad weather in spring 1315. Crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer harvest in 1317, and Europe did not fully recover until 1322. The period was marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, and even cannibalism and infanticide. The crisis had consequences for the Church, state, European society, and for future calamities to follow in the 14th century....
