BELOW LEVEL RAIN LEVELS ARE
UNCHANGED HEADING INTO THE
SUMMER, LEAVING WATER LEVELS LOW
AND FRONT YARDS SCROR SCORCHING.
MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS
ACROSS THE STATE WITH ABNORMALLY
DRY CONDITIONS IN THE REST OF
WISCONSIN.
UW-MADISON CLIMATE RESEARCHER
AND AGRONOMY DEPARTMENT CHAIR
CHRISTOPER KUCHARIK IS ON TOP OF
THESE DEVELOPMENTS AND HE JOINS
US NOW FROM MADISON AND,
PROFESSOR, THANKS VERY MUCH FOR
DOING SO.
>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.
<!32768>
>> SO WHAT KINDS OF HE PUBLIC
RADIO SIPPRECIPITATION DEFICIT ARE WE
RUNNING?
>> ABOUT HALF OF WHAT WE WOULD
GENERALLY GET.
THAT'S ABOUT TWO TO MAYBE FOUR
OR FIVE INCHES ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE.
AND THAT'S EQUAL TO ABOUT A
MONTH TO MAYBE A MONTH AND A
HALF DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE
OF THE NORMAL PRECIP WE WOULD
GET DURING THE SUMMERTIME AND
SPRING.
YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE MADE UP
QUICKLY DEPENDING ON IF YOU'RE
UNDER A HEAVY THUNDERSTORM.
BUT IT CAN TAKE A LOT TO MAKE UP
THAT KIND OF A DEFICIT QUICKLY.
>> YOU DON'T NECESSARILY WANT
THOSE GIANT DELUGES, EITHER.
THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE
IS NOT AS DRY, BUT THE WHOLE
STATE, AS YOU'VE REPORTED, HAD
BEEN BELOW NORMAL FOR MUCH OF
THE LAST YEAR.
SIGNIFICANTLY SO ACROSS THE
STATE?
>> MORE SO IN THE SOUTHERN HALF
OF THE STATE.
THE NORTH HAS BEEN SPARED A
LITTLE BIT AND THEY DID GET SOME
MORE PRECIPITATION YESTERDAY,
WHICH IS HELPING.
BUT THE WHOLE STATE HAS BEEN
SORT OF BEHIND AVERAGE,
PARTICULARLY THE LAST SIX
MONTHS, EVEN GOING BACK TO FALL
OF LAST YEAR, WHICH IS A PRETTY
BIG CHANGE COMPARED TO WHAT
WE'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING THE LAST
DECADE ACROSS THE STATE.
>> SO WHAT DOES THIS DROUGHT
CONDITION LOOK LIKE FOR CROPS IN
THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE
AS WE SPEAK?
>> YEAH.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT TOO BAD
YET.
A MAJORITY OF OUR CROPS ARE
RATED IN THE FAIR TO GOOD RANGE.
AND THIS DROUGHT IS HAPPENING A
BIT EARLIER THAN NORMALLY WE
WOULD EXPERIENCE.
TYPICALLY IT WOULD BE JULY AND
AUGUST WHEN WE START TO SEE THE
MUCH HOTTER AND DRYER
CONDITIONS.
BUT WE'RE DOING OKAY AND THERE'S
A LOT OF THE GROWING SEASON LEFT
TO MAKE UP SOME OF THAT DEFICIT.
SO THE NEXT FOUR TO SIX WEEKS
WILL BE PRETTY IMPORTANT FOR
CROP DEVELOPMENT.
>> HOW DOES THIS YEAR LOOK
COMPARED TO THE DROUGHT OF 2012
WHICH WE ALL REMEMBER?
>> SURE.
YEAH.
GOOD QUESTION.
SO WE ARE STARTING EARLIER THIS
YEAR WITH THE DROUGHT
CONDITIONS.
WE'RE ABOUT A MONTH AHEAD OF
WHERE WE WERE IN 2012.
AND THAT REALLY IS BECAUSE OF
THE LACK OF SPRINGTIME PRECIP
THAT WE HAD.
IN 2012 WE HAD ABOUT DOUBLE THE
SPRINGTIME RAIN WE'VE HAD IN
2021.
SO WE'RE GOING INTO THE SEASON
WITH A LOT LESS STORED IN THE
SOIL.
SO RIGHT NOW PLANS ARE GROWING.
THEY'RE JUST EMERGING AND
DEVELOPING AND TRYING TO PUT
ROOTS DEEPER TO FIND WATER AND
THEY'RE UNLIKELY TO FIND VERY
MUCH RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS
PROBABLY THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THOSE TWO YEARS.
>> SO IN BETWEEN THEN AND NOW,
WE'VE ALSO SEEN YEARS AS WE'VE
KIND OF DESCRIBED WITH HEAVY
PRECIPITATION, DESCRIBED AS KIND
OF WEATHER WHIPLASH.
ARE WE THEN EXPERIENCING THE
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE WITH
THESE EXTREMES?
>> YEAH.
THIS IS SOMETHING WE WORRY QUITE
A BIT ABOUT MOVING INTO THE
FUTURE, IS THE VARIABILITY
MOVING, YOU KNOW, VERY RAPIDLY
FROM ONE EXTREME TO THE NEXT.
AND FARMING IS ALREADY
CHALLENGING ENOUGH, YOU KNOW, IF
YOU TALK TO ANY FARMER.
THEY'RE ALWAYS WAITING FOR THE
NEXT RAIN OR THE NEXT DRY DAY TO
BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING.
UNFORTUNATELY, THIS IS A TREND
THAT WE ANTICIPATE WILL CONTINUE
TO HAPPEN, WHERE WE GO FROM
REALLY WET TO REALLY DRY
CONDITIONS.
AND IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE FROM
YEAR TO YEAR.
IT CAN BE WITHIN A SEASON
ITSELF.
>> YEAH.
ALL RIGHT.
WELL, WE LOOK FOR RAIN.
CHRISTOPER KUCHARIK, THANKS VERY
MUCH AND THANKS FOR JOINING US
ON THIS.
>> THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.