Kansas – Earliest frost on record – Growing season now third shortest on record

Kansas – Earliest frost on record – Growing season now third shortest on record

http://iceagenow.info/2014/10/kansas-earliest-frost-record-growing-season-shortest-record/

The shortest was 114 days in 1901, followed by 133 days in 1912, says the Hays (Kansas) Daily News. The Daily News reported that an all-time (114-year) record was broken on September 13, 2014, when the thermometer dipped to 31 degrees F. The low of 31 degrees not only was a new record for the day, but a new record for the first frost of the fall. It also means this year’s growing season — at 134 days — is the third shortest on record in this bread basket of the U.S.. The shortest was 114 days in 1901, followed by 133 days in 1912. Previously, the earliest fall frost in 117 years of record keeping at the Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center was Sept. 17, recorded twice in 1901 and again two years later in 1903. That means this year’s first frost broke the previous 114-year-old record by five days. Many other areas also dropped to near- or below-freezing temperatures the following day, raising the specter of a double-whammy in those areas. Late maturing grain sorghum crops the most likely to be affected Corn, grain sorghum and soybeans are susceptible to freezing temperatures, said Kansas State University Agricultural Research Center chief Bob Gillen,. Already, leaves on pumpkin plants growing at the research center have turned black as a result of the freezing temperature, and the upper third of a field of already drought-plagued forage growing east of Hays had turned brown. Gillen said many corn fields already are at a stage where they won’t be hurt too badly by the freeze, but that’s not the case for many grain sorghum fields. And don’t forget. After a “sharply wetter-than-normal July,” farmers had to wait before they could get in the field and plant grain sorghum this summer. Now, with all of the recent rain, Gillen is also starting to worry about farmers being able to get wheat in the ground on a timely basis. What have I been saying about fighting in the streets for food? http://hdnews.net/search/frostedcrops091714 Thanks to J Bird for this link

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