Historical rainfall analysis and climate implications for agriculture in midwest United States

A historical analysis of precipitation using 72 years of data from Midwest stations focuses on the implications of climate change for agricultural interests. The number of precipitation events, consecutive days of precipitation, and a Fourier transformation on precipitation are included. Although increased precipitation can be of benefit in agricultural production resulting in yield benefits in the Midwest, excessive rainfall events lead to runoff, which does not improve soil water content and plant available water. To examine the beneficial nature of rainfall events in the Midwest, rainfall retention is estimated using the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS/SCS) method. This method can be described briefly as an empirical formula estimating the soil's ability to store water and the amount of runoff. It was found that not only has rainfall increased but so have the number of rainfall days and the number of consecutive days of rainfall. To appricultural focus, spring and fall rainfall days were also found to increase implying that farmers may have fewer days to complete fieldwork in the current climate. With increasing precipitation, the potential for runoff also increases, losing valuable water needed for crops and contributing to lost nutrients in the soil.