Lack of Snow May Impact Food Prices

According to one financial report, "rising food prices are stoking global inflation with many agricultural commodity markets driven higher by bad weather in key producing countries". A key component of that statement are the words 'bad weather', which includes the lack of snow across the USA this winter.

Visitors to the United States often remark that Americans can be obsessive about the weather, from the frequent weather updates to the many conversations about the temperature. But this winter, the weather has become fodder for serious discussions. According to David Robinson, director of the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University, "the U.S. has had the 11th least extensive December snow cover in the 46-year satellite record, this winter."

It's dry, and not just on the surface. Deep down underground it's dry; down where farmers will need moisture next spring, says Brian Buhr, a University of Minnesota Agricultural Economist. When there's no snow, there's not enough water that goes into the underground reserves nor is the ground insulated from the cold.

"You're gonna get very deep frost. And when you get that deep frost, of course, some of those spring rains, then, don't have the opportunity to soak into that subsoil," said Buhr. Dry soil can translate into diminished crop production, which in turn will result in higher grocery prices.

"Which can be good for producers, but if we don't have the crops to sell, of course, that doesn't help. But, consumers eventually bear some of the cost of those lower crop production levels," said Buhr.

Snow also protects year-round crops such as alfalfa against the cold. A shortage of alfalfa would mean dairy farmers paying hire prices to feed their cows, resulting in higher milk prices on grocery shelves, he adds.