The U.S. is experiencing the driest fall on record, which could potentially impact the quality of upcoming autumn harvests, experts told ABC News.
The drought conditions are a relatively recent development. As of June 2024, drought coverage in the U.S. stood at a four-year low, according to theDrought conditions in the continental U.S. increased from 12% in June 2024 to 45% in October 2024, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. July was "good," but the dryness really started to ramp up in August, Glauber said.
The USDA Economic Research Services is predicting a less than 2% rise in food prices in the near future, but if the food in question is used to feed livestock, a domino effect of increasing prices -- for dairy and meat -- could occur, she said, Places like California that have high variability in precipitation are used to these conditions, Medellin-Azuara said. They typically rely on the melting of the winter snowpack, which then flows into rivers that are irrigated into agricultural fields.