Wisconsin experienced a historic drought in 2023. Throughout the growing season, farmers and agriculture professionals relied heavily on resources from the US Drought Monitor, the National Weather Service, and the State Climatology Office to help them make decisions and understand conditions as they were happening. While there is an abundance of information available, it is spread out across several websites and agencies, making it sometimes difficult and overwhelming to stay on top of everything. In conversations between Steve Vavrus (Wisconsin State Climatologist), Extension staff, NRCS, and the USDA Midwest Climate Hub, it became apparent that a resource with up-to-date information as well as guidance aimed specifically at agriculture would be valuable.
The Wisconsin Ag Climate Weekly Outlook
Thus, the Wisconsin Ag Climate Weekly Outlook was born. Dennis Todey, Director of the USDA Midwest Climate Hub, has already been producing a similar product for Iowa State Extension for a few years. With the addition of Josh Bendorf and Bridgette Mason to the team, they now have the capacity to provide outlooks to other Midwestern states, such as Wisconsin. Each week of the growing season and periodically during winter, the Midwest Climate Hub team will be compiling a set of relevant maps and weather information in partnership with: Steve Vavrus, State Climatologist of Wisconsin based out of the Nelson Institute at UW-Madison; Kristin Foehringer, NRCS State Working Lands Climate Smart Specialist; and Natasha Paris, Regional Crops Educator for Green Lake, Marquette, Waushara, and Adams Counties.
Frequent tools, maps and explanations are made available to describe climate factors and their impact on agriculture
The goal is to provide not only the weather maps and tools that are relevant to agriculture, but also provide some context and commentary from the contributors about what various factors mean for agriculture and things to consider throughout the season. The Ag Climate Weekly Outlook will be uploaded to the UW-Madison Extension Crops and Soils website on Wednesdays. Past reports will also be archived there so readers can look back for reference and comparison.
We encourage you to bookmark this page: https://cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu/wisconsin-climate-outlook/ so you can access the latest report quickly and easily. If you have questions or suggestions for how to improve this resource, please reach out. When you find yourself at a crossroads as to how to use this information to benefit your farm or business, reach out to your Extension Crops Educator.
