Historic floods in Midwest cause severe damage to farmlands
Image credit: CBS (stillshot)
Flooding has affected millions of acres of farmland in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, this month, causing severe damage to the farmlands and farming communities of the most crucial regions of U.S. crop production. Experts estimate a reduction of almost 1.2 million ha (3 million acres) worth of soybean and corn crops.
Historic flooding in the Midwest has left farmlands swamped causing severe damage to farming communities and crops, especially soybeans and corn. This has raised concerns about the possibility of food prices going up soon.
Dave and Judy Oberg, a farming couple from South Dakota showed the flood damage to their homes and farmland to CBS reporter Jonah Kaplan, almost 1 214 ha (3 000 acres) of their and their extended family’s farmland turned into a swamp, destroying crop even before they had a chance to grow. All they could save was some belongings and a box of deeds for their lands which has been used for farming for generations.
According to agricultural economist Ben Brown, we could see a reduction of about 1.2 ha (3 million acres) of soybeans and corn production within Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa as they are some of the prime regions of crop production in the United States that have been affected by devastating floods.
Brown estimates that the effects on food and product prices would be low as long as other domestic and international producers can meet demand.
“Farmers do have crop insurance but the ones we spoke to said it won’t even cover half their losses considering they are already paying for fuel, fertilizer, labor, and the seeds,” said CBS Minnesota’s news reporter Jonah Kaplan.
References:
1 Historic flooding in Midwest damages farms, leading to concerns over food prices impact – CBS News – June 27, 2024
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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