Baranick's Favorite Story of 2023

Editor's Note:

December naturally had us thinking back over the year that was, including the stories we've created. So, we again asked DTN/Progressive Farmer writers to think back on 2023 and choose a favorite story from the archive. They range from hard-hitting investigative journalism and national scoops to farm family features and fun discoveries made while traveling U.S. farm country. We hope you enjoy our writers' favorites, with today's story by DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick.

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After going through a long, dry stretch from late April through early June in 2023, we finally saw a change in the weather pattern that would bring good rainfall to much of the Corn Belt during the coming weeks.

The week of June 26 was a busy one for me as a meteorologist as there was finally a lot going on which had to be discussed.

From rain the previous week to favorable rain and severe weather potential in the coming weeks, it was very busy -- but it was the good news I finally got to share that made this my favorite story of 2023.

The initial story I put out June 27 highlighted the coming change to the U.S. Drought Monitor after some good rainfall the week before in the Western Corn Belt, and the Dakotas specifically.

The next day, I wrote about good rainfall for some of the driest parts of the Corn Belt up to that point, in the southern Corn Belt, which is some highly productive farmland.

With models starting to come into agreement that it would be a lasting pattern for two weeks, I finally got to tell some good news to a lot of folks that had been waiting one or two months for some sort of hope -- that good rainfall was coming to a lot of producers and hopefully in time before pollination for their corn began.

As a meteorologist, I don't always get to deliver good news. And the month of June wasn't filled with much of it. Markets were soaring higher as were producers' stress levels. Social media was filled with bad-looking corn and soybean fields, as well as comparisons to the drought year of 2012. In fact, up until the last week of June, the drought in 2023 was worse. We at DTN talked extensively about the building drought, but I had tried in a blog June 15 to compare the two years, but also mention that the forecast for July was much better. (See https://www.dtnpf.com/…) The optimism wasn't taken very well, but when we were finally confident that the dry pattern was changing, I was certainly relieved.

It didn't come without its own issues, though. As confidence grew in the setup to produce good rainfall, so did the risk of severe weather. In particular, the risk of a derecho, or a strong, long-lived windstorm, came to fruition across the southern Corn Belt. Though the damage from the storm was intense, it did come with heavy rain in most areas. While corn was knocked over, in most areas it didn't snap, and the rain that came with it was highly favorable to start a run of good weather for a lot of folks.

Here are the stories I wrote that week in June that combined to make it my favorite story for 2023:

June 27 -- "How Might Drought Monitor Change This Week?" https://www.dtnpf.com/…

June 28 -- "Heavy Precipitation Forecast for Southern Corn Belt," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

June 29 -- "Severe Storm Threat Increases with Heavy Rain Forecast," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

June 30 -- "Derecho Rips Through Southern Corn Belt," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

John Baranick can be reached at john.baranick@dtn.com

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