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El Nino could mean bumper corn crop

Warm ocean waters could help boost corn yields this year.

DTN meteorologist Bryce Anderson says that rising water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean indicates a likely El Nino scenario throughout the growing season.

He says – that is good for farmers.  “That leads to a generally mild temperature trend for the Corn Belt, along with periods of rain,” he says.  “Basically not any real stressful conditions.  So that is a favorable set-up as far as our growing conditions are concerned.”

The last time an El Nino was present during the growing season was 2009.  “And in 2009, corn yields were about 8 percent above trend line,” he says.  “That was a year that we set the new record, at that time, for yields.  Around 165 bushels an acre.”

While an El Nino typically indicates moderate temperatures with adequate moisture, Anderson tells Brownfield if there is one area of caution during an El Nino year, it is the Upper Midwest and Northeastern Plains.  “In the eastern Dakota’s, southwestern Minnesota, northeastern Nebraska – that’s the section of the Corn Belt, in El Nino years, can tend to be on the dry side,” he says.

He says El Nino typically develops during the November-December time-frame, but recent trends suggest El Nino related patterns are in effect.