Discussing the balance between agriculture and environment

Jul 21, 2014

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is partnering with experts in soil and water management and research to host a field demonstration day. Farmer Brian Hicks’ farm near Tracy, Minnesota is featured as a model for field drainage and greenhouse gas management. Discussions, field tours and presentations will use Hicks’ corn and soybean farm as a backdrop to find creative and sustainable methods farms can adopt to protect the environment.

The University of Minnesota and the USDA plan to release and discuss studies comparing cropping systems and the effects of conservation throughout the Midwest. The goal of the field day is to learn how farm greenhouse gases and future climate change will impact agriculture and surrounding environments. Experts will also compare how management practices on the Hicks farm compare to a natural prairie environment.

The field day is being held rain or shine on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. Scheduled events include:

9:00 a.m. Welcome address and presentations

10:00 a.m. Field tours on greenhouse gases, runoff and drainage management

12:00 p.m. Lunch and discussion on carbon, nitrogen, water and climate change

1:00 p.m. Panel discussion featuring MDA Commissioner Dave Frederickson and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner John Linc Stine

The Hicks Farm is located at 19465 County Road 8, Tracy, Minnesota 56175. Please register online at goo.gl/x8YUND. The event is free and registration includes a lunch, presentations and field tours.

Source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.