EARTH CHANGES & THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS: WEATHER AROUND THE WORLD DRAMATICALLY AFFECTING CROP PRICES!

No matter what time of year it is, weather is always a key factor for crop markets. In general, crop prices declined late in 2011, but they rebounded in early 2012. The key factor in the recent price moves has been weather developments in key corn and soybean production regions of Argentina and Brazil. Droughts in those key producing countries have led to declines in production forecasts, and these lower production forecasts have boosted prospects for U.S. corn and soybean exports.

The drought has been severe in Argentina. Some key growing areas received almost no rain in December suffering through the worst drought in at least 50 years. It was still drier than normal in January but most areas received between 50 percent and 75 percent of normal precipitation. Weather conditions have improved recently with good rains in northern Buenos Aires and southern Santa Fe. It is too early to know for sure how much the rains will help but drought conditions have eased at least for now. February is midseason for both corn and first crop soybeans in the region so rainfall now can have a significant impact on production, especially for soybeans. Early in the season, Argentina’s corn production was expected to be near 27.5 million tonnes. As the drought has persisted the size of the crop has been revised down. USDA’ estimate in January was 26 million tonnes and in February the figure was 22 million tonnes. Crop production estimates from private forecasters in Argentina are as low as 20 million tonnes or less. With a smaller crop in Argentina, USDA raised the 2011/12 forecast for U.S. corn exports to 1.70 billion bushels, up from 1.65 billion in January.

Soybean and corn production prospects in Brazil have also been affected by the dry weather so far this growing season. Soybean production in Rio Grande do Sul is put at around 8 million tonnes for this year, down from more than 11 million tonnes last season. Yield potential has also been reduced in other parts of the country. USDA forecasts Brazil’s soybean production of 72 million tonnes, but some other forecasters put production down at 70 million tonnes. Brazil’s corn crop is put at 61 million tonnes, unchanged from the January forecast. The drought in South America is attributed to the influence of the La Niña weather pattern in the Pacific. Temperatures have been well below normal since last summer and forecast models show the condition remaining in place, albeit weakening, until spring. Models indicate that ocean temperatures could move above normal by late spring. The La Niña weather pattern affected the drought in the southern U.S. last year and weather forecast maps show the dry weather across the south continuing at least through May.

Temperatures in the last couple of weeks in Europe have been so cold that it is logical to assume that there has been some winterkill. Rapeseed is of course the major oilseed crop there and the agronomists believe that there has been some damage. That speculation has supported soyoil prices this week. The head of the agriculture department of Ukraine’s meteorological service says that the country’s winter grain crops have been hit by record low temperatures and that production could fall by between 42 and 58 percent. The crops got off to a poor start due to drought in July through November and were in poor shape before the severe freeze hit. There was only modest snow to protect the crops from the very cold weather. Production at this point is forecast at between 10 million and 14 million tonnes. The Ukrainian wheat was in bad shape going into winter and It has probably suffered more losses. In addition to the dry weather in the southern U.S. there has been little or no precipitation in the northern Plains and the western Corn Belt states. Forecast maps show above normal precipitation in the region over the March through May period. With the spring planting season only a couple of months away, the region will need above normal precipitation to recharge soil moisture supplies. - Pork Network.

Latest Hurricane Sandy Satellite Photos

If you had any doubts about the scale of Frankenstorm Sandy, check out NASA's latest global Earth image to see its size compared to the entire planet. We are now updating this post with images, video and warnings from NASA, NOAA and other sources as they arrive.

Update 17: Latest update from the National Hurricane Center says the storm strength has increased. "The center is expected to landfall along or just south of southern New Jersey coast this evening or tonight."

New York is flooding already and the storm is NOT in full force yet. This one could really flood the subway system.

According to NOAA, "Sandy is expected to intensify as it interacts with an upper level system moving from the Great Lakes." The northeast region "may experience a widespread damaging storm, possibly of historic proportions".

The agency says "Sandy is expected to slam into the New Jersey coast later monday night, bringing heavy rain and damaging winds" to all areas. They warn that you shouldn't pay attention to the center of the storm, as all areas will have significant impact.

This is getting kind of scary—Sandy is hitting so hard that could really flood the New York City's subway system. Learn about it here

Parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens are already flooding and the storm isn't over the city in full force yet. That will happen around 4pm today. Take a look at these images, taken just a few minutes ago:

"The Hudson River has breached its banks 8.53 am" by Nigel Barker.

"East River rises above last two steps of Get Down, and approaches 3rd, at end of Wall Street"by Arturas Rosenbacher.

Here we are marooned in Red Hook, Brooklyn!!" by Greenpainting

The flooding in the Jamaica Bay, Queens neighborhood of Meadowmere. Courtesy of Kim Zatto, bait purveyor" by Corey Kilgannon.

Update 15: NASA's night shot, acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite around 2:42am EDT.

Update 14: NPR just reported that Starbucks have closed all its locations in NYC. How's that for a disaster? They also say this may be the biggest storm ever in the region.

Update 13: If you think Sandy is going to be just another Irene fizzle, think again; this animated GIF shows just how much stronger Sandy is at this stage in the game. And it's only getting stronger.

Full size

More on: http://gizmodo.com/5955575/hurricane-sandy-satellite-photos-and-videos-updating-live