We have never
seen anything like this before. According to satellite data that was just
released by Reuters, “at least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland” were covered
by water for at least seven days this month. That is an agricultural
disaster without equal in modern American history, and yet the mainstream media
is treating this like it is some sort of second class story. It
isn’t. This is the biggest news story of 2019 so far, and people want to
know what is going on. A few days ago, I posted a story entitled ‘“As Many As A Million Calves Lost In Nebraska” – Beef Prices In
The U.S. To Escalate Dramatically In The Coming Months’, and it has
already been shared on social media more than 145,000 times. Farming
communities all over the central part of the nation now look like war zones as
a result of all this flooding, but the media elites on the east and west coasts
don’t want to write about it. And with more flooding on the way for
the next two months, this crisis is only going to get worse.
This is the time of year when farmers are gearing up to plant
wheat, corn and soybeans, and now a substantial portion of our farmland will
not be able to be used at all this year. According to Reuters, at least a
million acres of farmland were covered by floodwaters for at least seven days
this month, and that “will likely reduce corn, wheat and soy production this
year”…
At
least 1 million acres (405,000 hectares) of U.S. farmland were flooded after
the “bomb cyclone” storm left wide swaths of nine major grain producing states
under water this month, satellite data analyzed by Gro Intelligence for Reuters
showed.
Farms
from the Dakotas to Missouri and beyond have been under water for a week or
more, possibly impeding planting and damaging soil. The floods, which came just
weeks before planting season starts in the Midwest, will likely reduce corn,
wheat and soy production this year.
And with “as many as a million calves” lost to the flooding, a lot
less food than anticipated is going to be produced in the United States for the
foreseeable future.
Between March 8th and March 21st, almost 1.1 million acres of
cropland and over 84,000 acres of pastureland were covered by water for at
least a week. With more rain on the way, it is essentially going to be
impossible for most of those acres to be usable this year.
In Iowa, 474,271 acres were covered by floodwaters for at least
seven days in March, and Iowa farmers are facing some very tough
deadlines. Corn must be planted by May 31st and soybeans must be planted
by June 15th in order to qualify for flood insurance. For most Iowa farms
that were covered by floodwaters, that is going to be impossible.
Overall, the recent flooding caused “at
least $3 billion” in economic damage according to authorities,
but many believe that the final number will be far higher.
Thousands upon thousands of farms have been completely destroyed,
and thousands upon thousands of farmers will not plant any crops at all this
year.
In addition to the vast agricultural devastation that we have
witnessed, thousands upon thousands of homes have been destroyed as well, and
now the National Ground Water Association is warning that “the safety of more than a million private water wells” could
be compromised…
Record
flooding in the Midwest is now threatening the safety of more than a million
private water wells. The National Ground Water
Association estimates that people living in more than 300 counties across 10 states have
their groundwater threatened from bacterial and industrial contamination
carried by flood waters.
If you live in the middle of the country and there is a chance
that your well may have been compromised, please don’t take any unnecessary
chances. Contaminated water can be really, really bad news.
Unfortunately, this is just the beginning. According to the
NOAA, we are entering an “unprecedented flood season” that could
potentially “impact an even bigger area of cropland”…
Spring
floods could yet impact an even bigger area of cropland. The
U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned of
what could be an “unprecedented
flood season” as it forecasts heavy spring rains.
Rivers may swell further as a deep snow pack in northern growing areas melts.
In my previous article entitled ‘”200 Million People At Risk: National Weather Service Warns
Apocalyptic Midwest Floods Are “A Preview Of What We Expect Throughout The Rest
Of The Spring”’, I included a map from the
NOAA which shows which areas of the central part of the country are projected
to receive unusually high levels of rainfall over the next few months.
Unfortunately, there is a tremendous amount of overlap with areas
that have already been devastated by flooding.
On Friday and Saturday, there will be “more heavy rains” in the
Midwest, and Nebraska is in “the
direct path” of the center of the storm…
From
the Central Plains to the Midwest, it has been a disastrous spring for river
flooding. A
weather system slated to bring more heavy rains Friday into Saturday could
aggravate the situation along and near the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
It’s a
one-two punch that combines additional rainwater with fresh runoff from
snowmelt. Perhaps
worst off is Nebraska, in the direct path of Friday’s quick burst of moisture.
Barely a week has passed since Gov. Pete Ricketts estimated the cost of ongoing
flooding in that state at more than $1 billion.
This is it. America is being hammered by one storm after
another, and I very much encourage you to get prepared for
a very rough ride ahead.
There is going to be a lot more flooding. Prices for beef,
dairy, wheat, corn and soy products are going to rise significantly, and just
when you think they are way too high they are going to keep on rising.
This is already the worst agricultural disaster in modern American
history, and federal authorities are telling us that we should expect things to
continue to get worse for at least two more months.
Perhaps the mainstream media will eventually decide to take this
story seriously, but until they do those of us in the alternative media will do
our best to keep you updated.
About
the author: Michael Snyder is
a nationally-syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is
the author of four books including Get
Prepared Now, The Beginning Of
The End and Living A
Life That Really Matters. His articles are originally published
on The Economic
Collapse Blog, End
Of The American Dream and The Most Important
News. From there, his articles are republished on dozens of other
prominent websites. If you would like to republish his articles, please feel
free to do so. The more people that see this information the better, and we
need to wake more people up while there is still time.