WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The
spring weather pattern for the United States looks greatly improved from a year
ago, when drought was both widespread and severe, which is good news for
agricultural producers, a private weather forecaster said on Wednesday.
A series of winter storms, which
have continued into March, add up to a more positive outlook for crops that
will be planted from the Plains to the East Coast, AccuWeather said in its 2013
U.S. spring weather outlook.
"A bumper crop of corn alone
later this summer could eventually reduce the pressure on grain, livestock feed
and other consumer prices," said the firm, which is based in State
College, Pennsylvania.
"Compared to last year, for the
season as a whole, more moisture will be available for agriculture due to lower
temperatures and lower evaporation rates from the Mississippi Valley to much of
the Atlantic coastal plain."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
has projected record large U.S. corn and soybean crops this year, assuming
normal growing conditions. New-crop futures at the CBOT are trading well below old-crop in anticipation of bumper harvests.
"We expect ample moisture
during most of the growing season, with few exceptions into this summer from
the Mississippi Valey to the East Coast," said Paul Pastelok, head of
AccuWeather's long-range forecasting department.
Echoing a recent U.S. government
forecast, AccuWeather said that parts of California and the Florida peninsula
could experience drought or at least drier-than-normal conditions into the
first part of the summer.
"A lack of big snowstorms over
the Sierra Nevada and other ranges in the West could mean water resource
limitations in California," the firm said.
But overall, the severe drought that
extended over much of the United States in 2012, and hammered U.S. corn,
soybean and wheat growers, is not expected to be repeated.
Winter storms have added up to
near-normal snowfall for major cropping areas of the lower Plains through the
Midwest and in parts of the Northwest United States, AccuWeather said.
Average temperatures are also
significantly lower this March from a year ago, which will result in lower
evaporation rates for a time.
"Overall, less long-lasting,
extreme heat is forecast from the Mississippi Valley to the East during most of
the spring and summer," the group said.
One negative of cooler spring
temperatures is that crops generally could be planted later this year, limiting
the opportunity for double-cropping, said Dale Mohler, an agricultural weather
specialist with the firm.
