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Looking at this year’s weather

The Weather Whisperer speaks during the 2013 Livestock, Forage and Grain Forum.

The Weather Whisperer speaks during the 2013 Livestock, Forage and Grain Forum.

It has been 20 years since we’ve had weather like we experienced in 2012.  Evelyn Browning-Garriss, the “Weather Whisperer” says while 2012 was a strange year for weather – it could be our new normal.  “The Gulf Stream is flowing hotter and when you heat up the Atlantic – the winds carry that heat inland,” she says.  “We are looking at a period of hotter summers and wetter, stormier winters.  Cold air hits the warm ocean and you get all the snow in the world.  Just ask anyone in New York.”

She tells Brownfield if you know what recent weather conditions were like and you have a feel for the land – it is easier to prepare for the upcoming growing season.  “We have enough moisture for good planting,” she says. “But not necessarily enough moisture to repair all of the drought.  We’re still lacking some of the subsoil moisture and we haven’t caught up.  That could lead to some of the crops having a shallower root system.”

Which means – farmers need to think about how to get their crops through heat waves.

AUDIO: Evelyn Browning-Garriss (5:02mp3)

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