Halito (Hello) from Dr. Evan Whitley, Executive Director of Agriculture.
In preparing to write this newsletter, I went back and perused a few I’ve written over the last couple of years. One thing among them seemed to stand out, regardless of the time of year: weather and weather patterns.
While Mother Nature’s importance to agriculture is clear, my first inclination was to feel somewhat lazy (literately speaking) since it at first appeared I simply could not find anything more “creative” to write about. However, after mulling it over a bit longer, I concluded that – if weather consumes my thought process this much, it likely does yours as well. So, it will indeed continue to be fair game for discussion. Perhaps even in this newsletter!
Speaking of patterns… humans tend to get into them, as well, which often coincide with the weather (see?), as well as the seasons of the year. In fact, there are diagnosable human behavioral disorders, such as Seasonal Affective Disorders (SAD), associated with weather patterns. Now, I certainly don’t mean to demean the fields of sociology and psychology, but farmers and ranchers have known this for a long-time. Just ask our spouses.
My wife tells me I have my summer and winter behavioral patterns that both coincide with the weather, each for different reasons: in the summertime, I tune into the weather forecasts because I obviously want to know when the next rain/cool front is expected. In the winter, I really don’t watch the local weather so much, but because broader winter weather patterns can have a significant impact on commodity prices and market conditions, I try to stay apprised of it.
I once overheard someone say they tend to lose weight during the summer. Again, a common human pattern associated with the seasons. Yet, not all weather discussion is based in negativity. Just yesterday, I noticed every county in which a Choctaw Nation ranch is located on the Oklahoma Drought Monitor map is currently in the “None” category, knock on wood. This is a stark difference to the last two summers and is a very positive thing!
Now, if I could just lose fifteen pounds before winter…