The summer of 2024 has had record-setting heat across parts of the West including the Four Corner states. Statewide this season, Arizona recorded the hottest three months on record, while New Mexico logged its second warmest, Utah experienced its fourth warmest summer, while Colorado recorded its sixth warmest. However, since the onset of the monsoon season, above-normal precipitation was observed across much of the Four Corners Region as well as in other areas in the Intermountain West. They include north-central Arizona, east-central Utah, southwest Colorado and portions of central and north-central New Mexico. Last week’s Drought Monitor Map, indicates that soils in a small section of Northwest New Mexico are abnormally dry, while the rest of the Four Corners Region is free of drought. According to the Desert Research Institute, Western Regional Climate Center, usually up to 65% of the Intermountain West’s rainfall arrives in the summer monsoon season. Also related to water in the West, the 2024 Water Year ended on September 30th, with Lake Powell at 38% of full capacity, which is 62% of average. Lake Mead is 33% full, about 54% of average water levels.
Hurricane Helene has hammered parts of the southeast U.S. over the weekend, and Farmers are reporting significant damage to orange groves, cotton and pecan crops, and the damage is expected to extend to unharvested grain crops as far North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Some areas of North Carolina saw as much as 29 inches of rain. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp reported that every commodity in the state has been damaged by the storm, which caused deadly flooding and widespread infrastructure damage. The Georgia Cotton Commission reported that the storm has caused widespread damage to cotton gins and other agricultural businesses, and that impacts of the storm are expected to continue for years to come. On Sunday, the White House reported that more than 3,300 federal personnel were deployed in the states impacted by the Hurricane, and that at least 50,000 people from 31 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada are working to restore power. Also, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency has deployed personnel to the impacted region to extend much-needed emergency credit to farmers and agriculture producers who lost crops and livestock.
While the price of eggs has become somewhat of a political football, the USDA points out that egg prices are on the rise due to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak, which has wiped out over 100 million birds in poultry flocks throughout the U.S. since the disease was detected in January of 2022. In July of 2024, over 1.6 million chickens were destroyed after the disease was detected in two commercial egg laying flocks in Weld County, Colorado. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the disease outbreak has caused wholesale egg prices to surpass $3 per dozen in August. That’s up from the usual $1 to $2 wholesale price range. Retail egg prices were up 19% in August compared to a year ago, while grocery prices in general increased 1% during the same time period.
