La Nina conditions have started up their projected multi-month residency in the Pacific Ocean, just as new crop cycles are kicking off in the Americas, including corn and soybean planting in South America and wheat planting in the United States, reports Reuters.
La Nina is characterized by cooler-than-normal surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and this month those waters have reached the coolest levels for the time of year in nearly a decade. When the ocean cools off so much this early, La Nina typically has more staying power earlier in the next year.
Winter wheat planting has begun in the United States and while moisture has been okay for top-producer Kansas, the near-term forecast is bone dry.
