In this June 1, 2009, file photo Jeff Trosen, right, and his son, Broc, working to free a stuck combine in a corn field north of Arvilla, ND. Warmer and wetter weather in large swaths of the country have helped farmers grow crops in some regions that only a few decades ago were too dry or cold. AP Photo / The Grand Forks Herald / Eric Hylden / File

By MICHAEL J. CRUMB, The Associated Press
10/8/2010 3:32:42 AM ET DES MOINES, Iowa — Warmer and wetter weather in large swaths of the country have helped farmers grow corn, soybeans and other crops in some regions that only a few decades ago were too dry or cold, experts who are studying the change said. Bruce Babcock, an Iowa State University agriculture economist, said soybean production is expanding north and the cornbelt is expanding north and west because of earlier planting dates and later freezes in the fall. “The Dakotas are pretty big corn producers now and soybeans have dramatically increased in North and South Dakota,” Babcock said. The change is due in part to a 7 percent increase in average U.S. rainfall in the past 50 years, said Jay Lawrimore, chief of climatic analysis for the Asheville, N.C.-based National Climactic Data Center. “The storm tracks are moving northward as the climate warms,” Lawrimore said. The Earth’s temperature has risen about 1.3 degrees since the late 1800s, according to data from the NCDC, with the warming greatest over North America, Europe and Asia. Seven of the eight warmest years on record have occurred since 2001, data from the center shows. … Babcock said the movement of crop patterns continues a 25-year-old trend. … Jerry Main, who grows corn near Fairfield in southeast Iowa, said repeated deluges this spring prevented him from planting one-third of his 600 acres, making it one of the worst years he’s seen. “What makes it worse is it’s the third wet year in a row for us in southeast Iowa and this year is the wettest of the three,” Main said. But USDA meteorologist Eric Luebenhusen said others are doing well. He noted Nebraska and Illinois were especially wet this year, and he said Iowa has “almost become the tropical rain forest of Middle America.” … “It all depends how that comes about,” Babcock said. “In general, more rainfall means less irrigation and more ability to produce crops. Getting 4-inch rainfalls on a regular basis, that’s not good for crops.”

Warmer, wetter weather has crops on the move