Word: droughts
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...some farmers, the drought...
...Mark Twain might have said, "but nobody does anything about it." For farmers, such talk is not idle chitchat, especially these days. In a parched field west of Twain's home town of Hannibal, a Missouri farmer was, of course, talking about the weather. The seven-week-long drought, after all, has desiccated as much as half the crops in the Midwest and South. "My corn was ruined by July 20," says Paul Wilson of Shelbyville. "There were too many days over 100° while the corn was trying to pollinate." Wilson's corn crop, mostly stunted...
...billion bu. of corn that are expected to be lost to the drought are in addition to the 2.2 billion bu. not planted as part of the Government's payment-in-kind (PIK) program, which provides subsidies to farmers for keeping their fields fallow. Analysts estimate that the corn yield will be down by 25%, or $4.5 billion worth. In the short term this may mean lower prices for meat as ranchers rush their herds to slaughter rather than continuing to fatten them. But in the long run it could mean significantly higher prices for both meat and grain...
Meteorologists, who subscribe to the faith that no weather is truly inexplicable, said that the drought in the Midwest has been caused by a particularly stubborn high-pressure system stuck over the center of the country. The system has been pulling rain-bearing winds from the Gulf of Mexico to Southern California and Nevada. Alicia was caused by a cooler front slanting down from Canada along the East Coast. As its leading edge crashed into the hot air over the gulf, a storm was born that soon grew into a hurricane...
...leaders signed an agreement to protect their 2,000-mile common border from pollution. Reagan announced that the U.S. would extend commodity credits so that Mexico could buy more American agricultural produce during the current drought. But foreign policy seemed to overshadow everything else. Playing down the differences, U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz said that both countries were in agreement "at the level of general principle," but held divergent views about "particular tactical moves." The debate, essentially, is about whether to speak softly or carry a big stick...