ASABE Technical Library - Abstract

Agriculture in the Great Lakes region has benefited from precipitation patterns that are fairly regular throughout the year. The beneficial climate, coupled with soils that generally have high water holding abilities, has allowed agriculture in the region to become highly productive and a substantial contributor to the region’s economy. However, predicted shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns towards warmer and wetter winter and spring months, a greater frequency of intense storms throughout the year, and more severe and longer droughts in the summer suggest the potential for decreased crop yields in the future unless ways are found to provide additional water to crops during growing season drought, while also being able to quickly remove excess soil water when conditions are wet.