How Severe is the Current U.S. 2012 Drought?

The current drought in the United States has silently crept up on millions of people, and today it is a big issue as far as how it will affect food prices in the future.  But farmers and food producers have known the true severity for many months now, but hoping for the best and for a break in the weather system to bring in more rain.  The latest information on the U.S. drought is that it is fifth worst on the all-time drought list, and rapidly closing in on the next three positions!

The worst drought in United States history took place during the dust bowl days of July 1934 where almost 80% of the country was under drought conditions and that is a record that won’t soon be broken.  As of right now, the current situation is that 57.2% of the country is undergoing very dry conditions.  Fourth place on the all-time list goes back to December 1956, with 57.6%, third place being July 1954 with 60.4%, and second place with 62.1% in December 1939.

So we can see that current conditions are quite severe and it won’t take very much for us to reach the second position for all time droughts!  This data go back as far as 1895, when records started being recorded.  This information was just released by the National Climatic Data Center, and shows how much the dry conditions might be affecting farmers and food producers.  The intensity of the drought is also worsening, with a higher percentage of the country in “severe” to “extreme” drought from the previous month.

The news is not all bad, as parts of the country are starting to experience a higher rainfall rate than earlier in the year.  However, all of these dry conditions will probably spell higher food prices at the market as growers try to make back some of their losses while they can.  Consumers will most likely feel the pinch at the grocery store this fall, but already produce prices have started inching up.  In fact, the last two years have seen a pretty sizable increase in prices as worldwide food supply has not kept up with demand.  Food prices can only continue to climb over time, and this drought can only help that trend.

In certain parts of the country there are ongoing battles over water rights and how much of it can be accessed by farms and growers, and since there is only so much fresh water to go around this will be an issue to complicate matters for years to come.  The United States is still the breadbasket of the world however, and our farms are very important to keeping everyone fed.  Bad conditions here can steamroll and possibly mean that some parts of the world will go hungry or have to fend for themselves.  So it is vitally important for us to persevere as a vital industry and make it through the rough times as well as possible.  A company can help to stay current and relevant in the marketplace today through the use of a proper and robust produce software and customer ordering system.