Country Life

100% Surge in Costs and Scarcity Deny Farmers Their ‘Lifeblood’ – Bloomberg

Diesel Price: 100% Surge in Costs and Scarcity Deny Farmers Their ‘Lifeblood’ – Bloomberg

Farmers from Iowa to Ukraine are grappling with surging diesel prices and an unsteady supply, forcing them to spend unprecedented sums on fuel in a chaotic market and raising concerns about the autumn harvest.

In the US, where corn and soybean producers are rushing to sow after rains and cold temperatures forced delays, filling a tractor tank daily now costs some farmers $1,000, twice what it was a year ago. And the most intensive part of the farming season is still ahead.

Forecasters predict another savage wildfire season – The Hill

Forecasters predict another savage wildfire season – The Hill

This year’s wildfire season will be just as intense as last year, forecasters predict.

AccuWeather forecasters are predicting an “above normal” wildfire season this year which typically runs from May to October. By early May, wildfires had already burned more than 1.1 million acres, more than twice the number burned by that time last year.

Senior Meteorologist Paul Pastelok told Changing America that early predictions for this fire season point to there being between 68,000 and 72,000 wildfires with total land burned peaking at around 8.1 to 8.3 million acres.

But those numbers could change depending on human activity, Pastelok added. Nearly 85 percent of all wildfires are set by humans, according to data from the National Park Service.