From AgWeb:
USDA made a historic move with its May 12 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report. Before today, USDA had only lowered the national average corn yield from trendline in its May report five times, with 2013 being the most recent.
For 2022, USDA is projecting a national average corn yield of 177 bu. per acre. That is 4 bu. below the weather-adjusted trend presented at USDA’s Agricultural Outlook Forum in February.
USDA says this revision is due to the very slow start to planting in the major corn-producing states and the likelihood progress by mid-May will remain well behind normal....
....MUCH MORE
Not a shocker to everyone.
May 2
USDA Weekly Crop Progress Report, May 2, 2022: Very Slow Going
April 26
Ag Commodities—USDA Crop Progress Report: Slow Going
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....
